Celebrating the Big and Small Victories in Life
We should celebrate our accomplishments, even if we never win an Olympic medal.
We love watching the Olympics. We are thrilled and inspired by the stories of comeback victories, good sportsmanship, and unlikely heroes. We enjoy watching athletes compete at the highest level. After all their preparation, it is inspiring to see them stand on the podium and receive gold, silver, and bronze medals.
But long before athletes can celebrate on the podium, they must put in lots of hard work behind the scenes. They must push through the drudgery of training day after day, lifting weights, perfecting form, and practicing the fundamentals—all without crowds of admirers cheering them on. They must learn how to celebrate the small, everyday successes.
Regarding our journey to becoming self-reliant, we can learn two important lessons from Olympic athletes:
We can gain a lot by privately celebrating our own small victories. Doing so is one of the keys to happiness. The satisfaction of finishing a task or learning a new skill is a great morale booster. It helps us see the progress we are making toward our big victories, like finishing school or landing a job.
Here’s a tip:
At the end of each day, just before your nightly prayers, go through the day in your mind and recount the little victories. Don’t dwell on the mistakes and losses if you have already learned from them. It’s likely that you accomplished far more than you think you did. Now, when you kneel down to pray, you’ll feel gratitude. You’ll feel encouraged to keep going. You’ll feel content with your effort, and that contentment will lead to a good night’s sleep so you are ready to begin again the next day.
You don’t have to be an Olympian to enjoy the payoff that comes from working hard and recognizing the reward.