Celebrations Are So Important For A Healthy Life. Let’s Party!

This past weekend, I traveled back home to Tennessee to celebrate a milestone in our family. It was my mom’s birthday. She loves telling everyone how old she is, but she is not a fan of anyone else telling how old she is. So, with that in mind, she got married at 17, had me 3 years later, and I am 70 years old. If you are not into math, ask one of your grandkids how many candles were on my mom’s birthday cake.

In our house, it doesn’t take much to have a celebration, but we have always been big on them. Good grades, a graduation, it’s Tuesday... let’s party! For years, as most of you know, we don’t have “a” birthday or “an” anniversary party; we celebrate all week. One day, we have a birthday breakfast, then there is the party with the kids and grandkids, next there is a birthday lunch at a favorite restaurant.

As we age, celebrations are as crucial to our mental and emotional health as exercising and diet is to our bodies. Celebrating not only brings joy amid life’s changes but also creates positive memories and connects us to our kids and grandkids. It also goes a long way toward battling feelings of isolation, provides purpose, and strengthens our social bonds.

The Bible has a lot to say about celebrating. In fact, God tells us that we have something to celebrate every day. And even more so when you are blessed with special occasions. We should celebrate when we are blessed for our hard work, when our kids come home, when you are blessed financially, go out to dinner with, or send flowers to those special people who helped you get there.

Saturday is Jeans’ birthday. Yesterday was flowers day. Jean loves “Andes” mints, which makes today candy day. She loves Mexican, which is for lunch on Thursday. This girl loves to walk...hike on Friday. Her favorite dish is the bourbon salmon at Cheddar’s, which we have planned for Saturday.

The one thing I have learned about celebrating is that it has be intentional. So put it on a calendar and let’s party!