My husband and I stayed at a really cool hotel in upstate NY, for Mother’s Day weekend. 

Down the street from the hotel is a small breakfast place called, “Kitty’s”. 

As I was paying for my breakfast, the woman behind the counter said, “Happy Mother’s Day.” 

In my ignorance and naïveté, I’d often “poo-pooed” the significance that’s been placed on celebrating Mother’s Day, thinking it was a hyped up way for Hallmark to sell cards.

Having raised three humans, (and at times, still experiencing the rigor of that journey), I’d say to myself, “Everyday is Mother’s Day.” 

Well, this beautiful young woman behind the counter at Kitty’s shared otherwise. 

She informed me that Mother’s Day was started by an activist in the late 1800s, by a mother who honored the value of the dedicated effort that all mothers had made in raising their children. 

There’s more to this story, but it comes down to celebrating and honoring the intention, the effort and love that goes into birthing and nurturing a whole person.  

Anna Maria Jarvis advocated for her own mother’s ideas, which birthed a movement that was eventually honored as a national holiday.

Whether you’ve birthed a human, or you’re birthing an idea for creating great things, celebrate the intention, the focus and the nurture required that mix together to bring a human or even a dream to fruition. 

If you’re anything like I used to be, you may have fluffed off the idea of celebrating yourself for small wins, or have felt an aversion to accepting recognition for the things you did successfully. 

Noticing what’s missing is, after all, much more of an acceptable practice than one of regularly patting ourselves on the back. 

In fact this is the exact practice that feeds a low self-image and keeps many of us from owning and sharing our true and unique voice.

If you’re willing, try this with me…

Stop where you are, right now, and take a breath. 

No one’s saying our life’s meant to look pretty or be easy all the time.

But we are creative beings. We cannot not create because we cannot not think. And our thoughts are creative. 

There is power in celebration, in honoring where you’ve invested your time and energy, in service of something you care about.

So for a moment, stop what you’re doing or worrying about. Breathe. Notice one thing you have done that you can praise.

You might not have known this, but the simple act of putting your attention on an action you’ve taken, or on the way you showed up for yourself, a friend or a child, is a form of celebration.  

The more comfortable we become with praising ourselves and others will – and does – shift our energy and expands the opportunities we see.

You and I are amazing beings who are up to amazing things.

As Prince EA says, “You cannot go back and make a brand new beginning, but you can start now, and make a brand new ending.”

Ask yourself, “What have I birthed that I can celebrate?”  

What more would you dare to birth for your life to feel fully expressed? 

I am inviting you to hold an idea, an image of the version of life that speaks to your soul. 

And with reverence, consider this an opportunity into which you can make a precious investment of your life’s resources.

Celebrate being in the birthing process of something great, even if it’s not in the “pretty” phase.

If I were going to whisper anything to you, or even to myself, it’s this…

Know you have the power to change course at any moment. You can start now with a brand new thought and make a brand new ending.