It’s been a little quiet around the Red Jacket Diaries these days. I’ve just finished a stretch where every spare minute and then some went into various school assignments, both team and individual.

My head was down and it felt like it came up only to check the next due date — sometimes, I’ll admit, in a panic. Each paper, each project, each assignment was a task to cross off the list. I could only see what was right in front of me.

Having reached a short holiday break, I can see clearly something I’ve not done very well, and maybe you aren’t very good at this, either. It may be difficult to do when juggling the many components of your life — work, friends, family, maybe school, a social life — yet it’s so critical to keeping some perspective and really living your life.

I’m talking about CELEBRATING.

Life is fleeting. We need to recognize and celebrate and cherish the special moments. Every effort, every achievement, deserves at least a brief acknowledgment: “I’ve completed this task in spite of all the obstacles; well done.”

So take a minute to acknowledge the effort required to get you where you are. Maybe you mastered Julia Child’s beef bourguignon, or learned the rhumba, or (as I did) finished a multi-page analysis of newspaper coverage of increasing gun violence in Canada, or just made it through another year, our achievements are worth celebrating. Cheers to us!

Champagne cork image: Matt Banks and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.