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This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend a wedding, a baby blessing, and a funeral. Three days, three of life’s biggest events. And while these events are all very different in their own ways, I believe that they all hold the exact same central purpose—to celebrate life.
The blessing of a child brings people together to celebrate the birth of a new child and all the adventures, hopes, and dreams that both parents and child have ahead of them. Together, the group celebrates the life that is yet to be lived.
A wedding is the celebration of two lives being intertwined. People come together to celebrate both individuals in the lives they have lived, but also to witness the birth of another life—the combined life of the couple.
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It may be hard to view a funeral as any sort of celebration. A funeral is usually a time of great loss and mourning. But it is not death that it is being celebrated at a funeral—it is life. People congregate at funerals to grieve together, yes, but they also gather together to celebrate the life of the one who died. Stories are shared about the great achievements of the deceased and the lives that he or she changed, affected, and touched when they were alive.
There are other events that celebrate life as well—baptisms, birthdays, bar mitzvahs, graduations, anniversaries… the list goes on and on. We are a people who enjoy celebrating life! And why shouldn’t we be?
Life is beautiful. Life is the single greatest blessing that any one of us has been given. Without it, there is nothing else. Each of us has been given the opportunity of roaming the earth, learning, growing, experiencing, loving, laughing, and LIVING! Oh, there are many, many challenges along the way. There are things that hurt us and things that halt us. But always, before there could be any of this, there was a life. Despite any of the challenges that come our way, we each have this one thing that we are totally in charge of. We have life, and we each have the ability to decide what our own individual life will be like! We are at the center of all of those life celebrations.
At different points in our lives, people we love will gather to celebrate us and the choices we’ve made. They will hug and applaud, cheer and weep. These will be big events that will require lots of preparation and planning, and I’m sure they will all be very lovely days to remember.
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But those big events don’t have to be the only celebrations in our lives. We can celebrate life every day! We are achieving great things all the time, having little triumphs nearly every single day of our lives. We are continuously learning new things and overcoming challenges that once seemed insurmountable. We are amazing. We should celebrate that. We should celebrate not only ourselves, but those around us as well. Take time to see the incredible feats that are being overcome by those you love. Applaud them for their work. Celebrate their achievements. Love the world that we live in.
Most importantly of all, live life to it’s fullest. When those big events in your life do come along, you’ll want those who gather to have something really amazing to celebrate.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
