Do you have ANY idea what happens to your brain when you celebrate?

Yippee!  It’s TODAY, my favourite day!! “What, why?!”, I hear you ask.

It’s our monthiversary (and the weekiversary of #myfavouriteday). Celebrate!!

We’ve been together more than 5 years and still on the 1^st of every month we celebrate the monthiversary of the day my soul mate asked me to be his girlfriend! It is another one of our relationship rituals which make us recall the feeling of new love and experience gratitude for another month together.

‘Any’-versaries are an acknowledgement of milestones and achievements on our life journey.

I’m sure you have seen my 10 Year celebration posts. I send my friends a wish for their Momiversary on the birthday of their eldest child. Even the anniversary of the death of a loved one is celebrated; we cannot acknowledge their passing without simultaneously acknowledging their living and the impact of that on our lives. When working towards something, I celebrate weekiversaries to keep my momentum going (it’s the weekiversary of my commitment to writing #myfavouriteday daily!).

In fact, I recommend celebrating ‘any’-versaries whenever you can!  

Neurobiologists have long known that celebration causes the release of the reward chemical, dopamine in our brains. Dopamine is the neurotransmitter responsible for concentration, focus and motivation. Celebration simultaneously lowers cortisol levels, which is great since elevated cortisol levels inhibit learning, increase anxiety and promote premature brain ageing. Celebrating milestones and achievements is good for our brains!

A time for pause and reflection

Without stopping to recognise the importance of even the smallest achievements, we miss the truth that a whole life, is in fact, a series of discrete events all sewn together into one story. When we take time to celebrate ‘any’-versaries we give ourselves pause; an opportunity to reflect on the passing of time and the need to be mindfully aware in a world that wants to push us robotically from one goal to the next.

What ‘any’-versary are you celebrating today?  

Much Love, 

Wait, don’t go…I have something else to tell you….

The My Favourite Day Series is a gratitude project.

Gratitude has scientifically proven benefits ranging from stress relief, anxiety management, improved sleep and higher levels of motivation. People who regularly express gratitude are happier, healthier and more effective in their relationships & work. Even more interesting is the fact that it is the act of searching for gratitude that causes the benefits, even if we come up empty handed in the moment.  

Although, I have a long-standing daily gratitude practice; at our evening meal, whoever is present (guests included) is invited to share 3 things they are grateful for in the day, I have upped the ante and set myself the challenge to bring to life the Tao of Pooh encapsulated in this quote from AA Milne’s work

“What day is it?” asked Pooh.
“It’s today,” squeaked Piglet.
“My favourite day,” said Pooh.”

Is it possible to make ‘Today’ your favourite day every day? I like to think so and I hope to inspire others to see their lives this way with my sharing.

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