Why it's Important to Celebrate My Wins

I recently came across a video of the speech I gave at Lancaster University in 2019 when I received an alumni award. It was honestly one of the highlights of my year and I discovering the video filled me with so much pride and yet I paused for a moment before sharing it. I paused because we are surrounded with a lot of sadness and very real news and at times it feels insensitive to celebrate our wins. That is not to say that our wins are not valid but when you're self aware and sensitive to the nature of our current reality in 2020 it can feel a little uncomfortable to talk about how well you're doing. It is also much easier for me to celebrate other people's wins both personally and professionally, it's what I do, amplifying the stories of others before my own has become a habit and so I wondered if celebrating a win during a pandemic might be considered poor timing and I have noticed that other people in my network have had similar challenges with this too. Perhaps the question to this piece shouldn't be whether I can celebrate my win because of course I can, perhaps it should be whether I want to and why?I am often the first person to encourage others to share their good news because for me good news gives us hope, it brings us moments of joy and inspires us in ways that we need, particularly at times like these.  So here I am celebrating a win, albeit a win from 2019 but to me it will always be a win.  I'm conscious that by sharing this it will hopefully motive someone reading this and watching the video to know that there can be better times ahead.

I'd love to hear about your wins - both big and small and encourage you to share them not only with me but with your inner circle and if you're feeling brave with your wider network.