Creating and Celebrating Milestones

"A milestone passed, new things begun, dreams as shining as the sun, a goal achieved, a victory won!" -Author Unknown


Very recently I had a MILESTONE birthday and wanted a parade. You know the kind with the floats, flowers, marching bands...I wanted the works. So I planned my party and did it BIG!!!! It was wonderful. I had the most fun that I experienced in years. Afterword, I sat alone with my journal and began to reflect on the journey of reaching a milestone and getting older. 

I noted that many of my friends had begun to approach the subject of reaching this particular age. We'd go out for drinks and talk about how when we were teens we thought people our age were old...but now that we're here we see that there is so much more left to do. We also began to talk about how we imagined our lives to be by this milestone and that none of us are living the lives we imagined. In some ways the reality of our current lives aren't the ideal we envisioned, but each and everyone of us clearly felt that we in many ways have SURPASSED the boundaries and limits that our young imaginations set. We are living life outside that box and that is at once exciting and scary. 

Our conversation caused me to ponder the purpose of MILESTONES in our life. Why is turning 21, 30, 40, having graduations, awards, or any other life maker different from another day?  What is the significance?  

I have learned 3 important things about MILESTONES:

• Milestones are significant because we give them significance.  This is THE most important element of a MILESTONE. It is the idea that all other elements of a milestone is built on. We make meaning behind anything we do in life. Therefore, milestones can be different for different people. Moreover, they can be CREATED.

•  Milestones compel you to be introspective. Creating and celebrating milestones help you get out of the box we call life and force you to re-envision your future. What do I want to do and who do I want to be... at this particular point in my life? 

• Milestones are motivating. We go out and get in shape, color our hair...we get a lot done in a short amount of time in order to meet the expectations we set for ourselves around our milestones. 

Looking at these elements you can see an action plan for CREATING and CELEBRATING MILESTONES. Why do we have to wait for events that other people deem IMPORTANT. The Dating Rotation is about more than dating, it is about taking control of your life and living it to the fullest. We all get into ruts and I know 2 years ago I was in a major rut. Preparing for my Milestone gave me the motivation to stop feeling sorry for myself and get out of that negative frame of mind.


The year before my birthday, I looked at my life and realized there were some things that I wanted to do and gave myself a timeline.  My goal was to accomplish one thing important for myself personally and one thing concrete for my career. These were the places I felt stuck. I made a plan and put it into action. Before my birthday I traveled outside of the country by myself and created an innovative program at work. What I learned from this was that it wasn't turning a particular age that made hitting that birthday milestone so great, it was the meaning I gave it, by creating goals for myself. By doing this, I became more motivated and engaged in my life and my work. 

JOURNAL:
Even if you aren't celebrating a milestone birthday this year, so what? CREATE one for yourself. Preparing for a half-marathon, traveling across the country in a car, developing your own side business, what ever it is...make one up. Follow the steps above, make and action plan, and then celebrate your accomplishments. 

Continue to make MILESTONES in your life and CELEBRATE them. We need markers on the road of life to see how far we've come and to get excited about where we have yet to explore.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS. READING THEM ARE MY MARKERS!