“Remember to celebrate milestones as you prepare for the road ahead.” Nelson Mandela
A milestone is defined as “a significant event in your life.” It could be another birthday, a special day in your life, a marriage, an anniversary, the birth of a baby or even a new chapter in your life. It is auspicious and it should not be taken lightly because milestones show us where we stand and how we are progressing through this journey called life.
Sometimes you have to work hard to arrive at that milestone and at other times you have no control over it. It arrives as scheduled and you have no say in the matter. Take birthdays for example, it has nothing to do with how you get there but each year it arrives without fail and you are left staring at a new year ahead with the old one behind you. You can choose to rejoice, you can moan or you can totally ignore it as a friend of mine does each year. It is a more than a chore for him. Whatever the case may be, you’ve reached another milestone and life goes on from there.
“Today is a milestone, it tells you how far you’ve come. Keep learning, keep trying, keep accomplishing and keep venturing on through your journey.” Unknown
What are the important milestones in your life?
In mine it was the first time a boy asked me out on a date and I got my first kiss under the stars. It was beautiful and filled with innocence and I learned that “boys” found me attractive and that put a smile on my face. I had ventured out of my tom-boyish days and was blossoming into a young woman with the world at my feet. It was a wonderful feeling.
The next milestone was when I got my first paycheck. It was a paltry sum but I’ll never forget that feeling of walking on air that it gave me. More than that, I knew that I was on my way to bigger and better things!
Getting married was an important milestone. I was finally an adult and I had a life of my own. Even though the marriage broke up many years later, it taught me that I am fully capable of dealing with whatever life throws my way.
The birth of my son was a wonderful milestone. I felt like I had come full circle and it taught me that as a parent I had responsibilities and there were lessons to teach and learn without a playbook.
Divorce was a milestone I would rather forget. Hurt, pain, a waterfall of tears and holding on were the terrible lessons of walking away from a love that didn’t quite work out and it was one of the hardest things I had to do. It taught me that life was far from over and I had to move on from where I was and look towards the uncertain future and I am still learning to do that.
Losing someone close to me was a horrific milestone. Actually there were several of those. First response was, “I can’t deal with this!” I did find out that I was fully capable of dealing with this and much much more. Just when you think you can’t, life shows you that YOU CAN. The strength within is unbeatable and it was those times that strength reached out and showed me a better way. It too was a milestone to be treasured.
Milestones are important markers of life. Some are wonderful, some we would rather forget but no matter what, milestones keep showing up and they will keep doing so because it is a part of life. They are there to show us our development as individuals, how far we have come, where we have to go to complete our journey and what we have to do to get there. Enjoy them, accept them, learn from them and be grateful for all of them.
“Be thankful for all of the small victories as you work toward large milestones as it’s not the endgame that matters most but how you got to where you are.” Unknown
And
What a beautiful thing it is to be able to stand tall and say, “I fell apart, and I survived.” Unknown
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