I thought 31 Days of Self-Congratulation would be just a seasonal project.  But then I thought otherwise.   I mean, why must it?  Isn’t positivity something we could all use year round?  (Sure.)  Besides, I missed it.  I missed its verve.

31 Days of Self-Congratulations speaks to the core of my belief the world would be a better place if it followed Bruno Bettelheim’s advice:

“It is only when we feel love for ourselves that we are reliably able to feel we are loved; only when we are able to freely offer love to others that it carries us like a boat on the sea, through the highs and lows of our daily lives.”

So, to make a longish story of my cogitations about this stuff much shorter, 31 Days will be back way, way, way before January.  Resuscitation is at hand!  I’m talking July or August, once my druthers are revived and refreshed from our next little vacay to Biarritz and Bilbao, I’ve got a plan for it set in putty, plunked a new banner image into the header section, and all that.

Until then, stick a self-congrats tee in the ground and take a few practice swings, because soon, very soon, together we’ll make positivity and self-congratulations an indomitable habit.

(Along with more pictures attached to future posts. Pictures are a must!)

Hey Self-Congratulators!

This blog is on hiatus for a while.  Hope you’ll join me on the companion blog, aptly named The Other 334 Days.

In the meantime, don’t be shy about keeping track of your reasons to self-congratulate in the months between now and 2009.  Let’s face it, it’s a whole lot easier to remember then if you write it down now.

Wishing you heaps of positivity –

MG

Well, today’s self-congrat is pretty straightforward. I’m giving myself high-fives for seeing this 31 Days of Self-Congratulations blog through all it’s phases: theory, egg, tadpole, frog…prince(ss)?

On November 13th, 2007 I cogitated this idea. By December 11th, all of the pieces for it were in place. Here we are on January 31st, 2008, and I can wrap this up by sincerely saying it’s been fun, insightful, challenging, and surprising. It got a little press. It got a lot of great people who bravely shared their own self-congratulations and other little nuggets about themselves: Claudia, Kristina, Suellen, Trish, Sharon, Amanda, Suzanne, Kerry, Rowland, Nadine, Kevin, Erin, Alice, Mindy, Debbie, and Sharon. Thanks to you all!

Before I stick a fork in 31 Congrats and pronounce her done, I should add that I’m not intending to hibernate for the rest of the year. Not a chance. In fact, tomorrow launches a companion blog, The Other 334 Days, which along these same lines focuses on self-awareness rather than self-improvement, because without self-awareness none of our self-improvements register clearly enough to sate the hunger for contentment, security and honest-to-goodness satisfaction spurring us in the first place.

Cheers!

Today’s spotlight is, alas, the last spotlight of the 31 Days of Self-Congratulations challenge…at least until 2009 when the fun begins again.

Who: Erin Curran, a trusted confidant, partner and guide for socially conscious women of vision and conviction.

Self-Congrat du Jour:  “Today I’m self-congratulating myself for tuning out the static… in more specific terms, turning off the tv!  I’ll be honest, I can be a tv junkie.  Working from home I sometimes keep the tv on in the background or flip on the tv during breaks.  I’m not going to go to guilt over this, but I am going to state for the record that it makes my brain hurt and depresses my mood.  Read the rest of this post »

Today is my Mom’s birthday (joyeux anniversaire, Maman), so it also seems like a highly appropriate day to self-congratulate about something very big (quelque chose très grande).  That is last July we made the decision to uproot from everything familiar and move to the south of France for at least a couple years.

Back in July, the move felt theoretical.  In December as I compiled my paperwork for my long stay visa application, the move began to feel like a small tremor beneath my feet.  As the weeks tick onward, the tremor grows.  The day I buy the plane ticket at the end of March, I’ll probably need a drink to still the shaking.  Which is not to say that I have any regrets or want to rethink this decision.  The fears and the nerves are just a natural part of this process, the course hair on the beast called “life change”.  There’s plenty of excitement traveling through these veins, too.

Anyway, I’ll be better than fine once actual overlays anticipation.   More importantly, this move embodies one of the rules I live by: do the thing I think I can’t do.

This one might be a little hard to explain, so bear with me. Basically, I’m self-congratulating for being aware of my process for changing, learning, growing, creating.  And for respecting my process, generally letting it be what it be.

For example, when I’m learning something new, especially when it’s a technical something or other, I tend to vacillate wildly between being “on the emotional ledge” and being the person on the ground with the megaphone calmly talking myself into stepping away from the edge. Once I begin to feel more knowledgeable and grounded, then things stabilize. But until that happens…hoo-boy! Read the rest of this post »

Only four days left in the 31 Days challenge!

For whatever reason, the self-congrat I had jotted down a few weeks ago for today wasn’t singing to me, and fiddling with it was a hard slog. So, I pulled out my deck of 31 Days of Self-Congratulations cards to cogitate another. Sure ‘nuf, when I landed on the card with a quote by Shakti Gawain, I knew this prompt would be the one to get my brain rolling: “We always attract into our lives whatever we think about most, believe in most strongly, expect on the deepest level, and imagine most vividly.” Read the rest of this post »

I’ve stopped apologizing for what I feel, and I feel that that’s a change for which a self-congratulation is due.  Because it’s stretched me like a giant step forward.  And it’s a little scary, because there is an undercurrent of rebellion.  Yet it tells me that the relationship I’ve built with myself is secure enough to hold steady even as I venture into the complicated ooze of my humanity.

Here’s what I’ve found:  letting what I feel be sacred space, where the judge and jury in me is discouraged from holding court, let’s me more effectively get over my humps and out of my own way. Buried and ostracized feelings fester, and usually leach out in some highly destructive manner, anyway.  Acknowledging them - even the not-so-pretty ones, even just to myself - diffuses their oomph, their power, their ability to be the boss of me when I need to be the boss of them.

Now, lest it be misconstrued that I’m dodging accountability, that’s not the case.  I’m not afraid of accountability.  I’m all for apologizing for what I say and do, including apologies for an unintended impact.  But no more feeling sorry for what I feel.  The end.

I’ve always liked to be the first one up in the morning and the first one downstairs. The cats greet me, although they’re hellos have a measure of self-interest - they want their breakfast and for their nightly lock down to end. But after cat food is distributed and the cat flap is unlocked and a big ceramic mug of Irish tea is brewed, my contemplation time begins. I’m self-congratulating today for keeping the faith with this little ritual.

I love it for many reasons, but also because the preparations are so simple: cats, flap, tea. There are no accessories to take out of storage - no mats or mood music. Read the rest of this post »

My self-congratulations for today have to do with allowing an arch enemy to become a good friend.

Early in November a friend invited me to a benefit that was held at an Episcopal church. There was an artist’s market, wine bar, chocolate desserts, and a concert held in the church sanctuary. Having been a card-carrying agnostic since college, it’s been many, many years since I voluntarily sat in a church pew. Gazing around, I remembered the various churches I’d gone (forced to go to, actually) to when I was younger. The exposed beams on the white ceiling. The simply decorated altar. The plain candle sconces on the walls. The view of the woods that encircle the church. All of those churches had had a similar look, feel, smell, atmosphere to this one.

Yet, I found myself oddly moved and heard an inner voice say, “you’ve been missing God.” Read the rest of this post »