It’s important to celebrate the small victories.  It’s easy to celebrate holidays, birthdays and promotions, but what about the smaller, more routine accomplishments?  Most of us tend to ignore them and let them pass without acknowledging them.  But when we do, we miss out on a lot of joy in our lives.

Small victories are opportunities to count our blessings and be grateful.  They are also a chance to reflect on how much we’ve accomplished, which gives us strength to carry on.  I think that celebrating the smaller things is an important habit in living life to the fullest.

We need to remember to celebrate more often – not just the big accomplishments, but all the small victories in our lives as well.  Here are some things to stimulate ideas for celebrating:

1. Celebrate that it’s Friday

2. The completion of a goal or project

3. Sunny days

4. Feeling someone take your hand in theirs

5. Making time for a book you’ve been dying to read

6. When someone does something nice to you “just because”

7. Watching your child learn from watching you

8. An itch you can actually reach

9. Ten minutes or more of exercise

10. Brewing fresh coffee on a cold morning

11. Making someone laugh

12. An opportunity to be creative

13. When you learn something new

14. Blogs that inspire

15. Friends who encourage you

16. Friends you can encourage

17. Your awesome family

18. A cozy bed at night

19. A roof over your head

20. Dreams for the future

21. Happy memories from the past

22. A good hair day.

23. When someone holds the door for you

24. A happy moment with a loved one

25. Getting off work while it’s still light outside

26. A smile from a stranger

27. A compliment from a stranger

28. Opportunities to make a change

29. The ability to learn from mistakes

30. Children playing – a great reminder to be joyful

31. A small gesture of kindness from someone who loves you

32. Waking up before the alarm goes off

33. Getting pumped up and inspired by music

34. An outdoor lunch

35. Five minutes of deep breathing

36. A clean house

37. An embrace that lasts just a little longer than usual

38. When the traffic light turns green the moment you arrive

39. A small change to your routine to make your day feel exciting

40. Sneaking time for your favorite snack or beverage

41. Scratching an item off your “to-do” list

42. A deep stretch

43. When you say “no” to someone

44. When you say “yes” to an opportunity

45. Finding time to witness a beautiful sunset or sunrise

46. Playing a game you loved as a child

47. An extra half-hour of sleep

48. Spare time to realize how lucky you are to be alive

49. A home cooked meal

50. Finding time to meditate

51. A long phone conversation with a friend

52. 10 minutes with an animal

53. Reaching into your pocket and finding money you didn’t know you had

54. Receiving a hand-written letter

55. The moment you have a wonderful thought

56. A sweater straight from the dryer on a cold day

57. Something so funny it makes you laugh out loud

58. Flowers you didn’t expect

59. A small gesture of support

60. Random acts of kindness


Celebrating the small things adds joy to our lives.

I hope these ideas have stimulated your thinking about what you can celebrate in your life.  My list here is by no means exhaustive.  

However, it should help you to get started thinking in the right direction.

Become more mindful of the good things in your life.  The more you appreciate them, the more joy they will bring to you.  A part of living the good life is stopping long enough to relish in the moment.

As Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realize they were the big things.”