Celebrating mini victories.

If you are familiar with my blog, you know that “grace” is a reoccurring theme of mine. But today, I realized that grace doesn’t have to be reactive (example: forgiving yourself for not healing at the pace in which you would like, or in which others think you should). Grace can be proactive (celebrating yourself, even for mini victories).

Today, especially to any outsider, nothing “major” occurred. I went to a professional development workshop, I picked up a Sprite and some *shrimps for Brad at the grocery, I played Frisbee with Winnie, and now I am writing this blog before I tackle my list of household duties. If I get REALLY crazy, I may even wash my hair, instead of dousing it with more baby powder for the fourth consecutive day.

My professional development workshop was a “storytelling bootcamp.” While I was looking forward to the topic itself, I LOATHE any type of event that has “networking breaks” factored into the program. I would rather go to the dentist.

I walked in, and to my relief, I vaguely knew the first person I saw, and I asked if the seat beside her was open. She said yes, so I put my stuff down. Our table was in the back corner; I filled the last empty seat.

A minute before the program began, I saw a lone person sitting at the front table, dead center. I genuinely do not know what came over me, but I picked up my stuff and decided to go sit with her. As I sat down, I said, “Everybody is always so afraid to take the front seats!” I didn’t say, “Including me.”

That was my first victory of the day.

During one session, the presenter asked us to pick ONE word we think other people would use to describe our storytelling and write it down. I am not telling you what my word is, because I would really like YOU to tell me which word you would use to describe my writing (we were instructed to ask others).

Anyway, the presenter then asked if anyone was brave enough to share their word. Crickets. So, I shared mine with the room. I don’t know if it was a moment of courage or if I was willing to do anything to disrupt the awkward silence, but that was my second victory.

Later, at the conclusion of a session about intellectual property, the moderator asked if we had any questions. I RAISED MY HAND. I asked a question. And I did not berate myself for not wording it *exactly* how it sounded in my head. Third victory.

Lastly, I intentionally engaged in “small talk” during the “networking breaks” instead of immediately dashing to the bathroom to hide. Fifth victory.

And I get it. These “victories” probably feel like things that normal ass people do every single day without a second thought. It is not second nature to me. These were deliberate, conscious, scary decisions I made in the name of “personal growth.”

So, I am actively celebrating these mini victories, AND I am celebrating my decision to celebrate.

What was YOUR mini victory today?

*Brad says, “I know the plural of shrimp is just shrimp, but I think ‘shrimps’ is so endearing.”