Celebrate Your Wins!
I can’t believe today marks 10 years since I graduated high school! It sounds so cliche but time really does fly by. Just this weekend I was watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off with my 80’s loving mother and the closing line always makes me think- “Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” I know it’s meant to be a comical and silly movie, but this quote is great insight for someone about to graduate high school. I want to continue feeling amazing about today like my name is getting called for my diploma amazing. Here’s why.
It’s about celebrating your wins. High school reunions(I don’t even know if I’ ’ll go to mine) bring a lot of emotions. But one of them is this embarrassment. It’s fear of being judged by your former classmates, now as adults. Unless you are one of those people who “got their stuff all together” and likes to brag about it, you probably feel like most people are going to be doing better than you.
It’s a theme I’m starting to witness in my peers and it makes me sad and stressed to see. It’s a comparison game. It’s the who's getting married and starting a family? It’s who is out on their own or still living at home? Who got a better job? It the asking, what did you experience in the last 10 years? The list goes on and on, but you get my point. People feel like they’re not enough and that everyone is above and better than them. It’s constant and it’s damaging to our mental health.
In the past 10 years, I’ve had a lot of experiences that I thought I’d never experience. I’m a first-generation college graduate, I held down a job as an educator during the pandemic, started two businesses, met a lot of really amazing people, and had a lot of wonderful experiences. I’ve learned so much about life and people and I’m excited to keep learning! That’s a win to celebrate! So why should I put my head down at a reunion if I go? Why should anyone? We all have our journeys and something to be proud of. It’s hard but try and reframe that thought process. It’s not bragging, it’s celebrating our wins.
I remember before I started college I was listening to John Mayer’s “No Such Thing.” I felt like it really hit home as I was about to start this new journey of higher education.
“I just can’t wait ‘til my ten year reunion
I’m gonna bust down the double doors
And when I stand on these tables before you
You will know what all this time was for”
Suddenly I couldn’t wait for my 10-year reunion because I wanted to experience that too, but it felt so far away- like it would never get here. But here we are. Life has changed so much but also feels the same and like it was just yesterday as cliche as that sounds. Embrace every moment because life is going to go by faster the older we get. It’s just so crazy to think about. Enjoy the experiences of life! And no matter where you are or whether it’s been 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years or 50 years-celebrate your wins!
