Flaunt! Build Your Dreams, Live Your Sparkle! with Lora Cheadle

Graduation! May is the season we celebrate transitions from one phase of our lives to the next. And boy do we celebrate! Everywhere we look we see CONGRATULATIONS banners, signs, cards and posts on line. We congratulate the graduate for the successful completion of one phase of his or her life, and we enthusiastically launch them into the next phase. But what we don’t say, is the fact that the next phase will probably be difficult. Maybe even more difficult than the phase they just completed. After all, isn’t that how a lot of life works? We graduate high school, and we move on to college, which is inevitably more difficult. Then, we graduate from college, and move onto grad school, which is more difficult still. We leave school behind for the real world, and we may struggle for jobs or to make enough to cover living expenses and student loans. But who cares? When we use the word graduation, the automatic response is a hearty, CONGRATULATIONS! And that’s exactly the way it should be! In fact, we would be better off as a society if we used the word CONGRATULATIONS more often. For the loss of a job, for divorces, for tragedies and even for death. Because when we let go of the fearful connotation of the word change, when we let go of the stressful nature of transition and growth, we automatically feel better! Using the word CONGRATULATIONS enables us to look back, to see how hard we’ve worked, to see all we have accomplished, and it solidifies for us that we have succeeded. Using the word CONGRATULATIONS also causes us to look forward to the future with joy, expectation and anticipation, instead of with trepidation. When we have successfully wrapped up one phase of life, and are moving into the next phase, it helps to move forward with positivity! So my challenge to you is this: What is going on in your life right now that is a change or a transition? How would this change be different for you if you felt satisfaction and eager anticipation for the future? How different would this time be for you, if everyone around you congratulated you on everything you had just accomplished, and hardily wished you well for the next, exciting chapter of your life? My hunch is that whatever you were facing, would suddenly feel a whole lot better! So, beginning today, let’s all adopt the practice of acknowledging and congratulating each other for the work, the success, the lessons and the changes that take place in our lives each and every day. CONGRATULATIONS! May the next chapter of your life be Shiny and Bright!