With Valentine’s day just behind us, I was reminded of our tradition to take a day and celebrate special events. We celebrate mothers, fathers, pilgrims, veterans, workers, religions traditions, famous people and presidents. Overall, a good idea.

What struck me more is the concept of a holi “day.” If these are really important events, why do we limit the celebration to just a day? Shouldn’t they be recurring events or recurring celebrations?

Here’s my thought. Holi “days” aren’t cutting it. The daily celebrations are too infrequent and don’t encourage enough of the right behaviors to last all year. In a world that is increasingly unkind, selfish and confrontational, couldn’t we make an improvement if we were to extend the celebrations? Couldn’t we stay more focused on being kind, considerate, passionate, loving and respectful?

So I decided to create a “never miss an opportunity” list – a list of things I should celebrate or do on a regular basis – not just once. Here’s the start of my list. What would you add?

Never miss an opportunity to…:
o Tell (and show) the people you love how much you love them and what they mean to you.
o Share a story about your life’s success and failures to teach someone else.
o Make someone else feel important, even if you did most of the work.
o Show your patriotism and respect for your country.
o Show your tolerance for someone who does not look like you or believe in what you do.
o Stop and appreciate a flower, a tree, the wind, a star, rock formation or any other part of nature.
o Know yourself, your talents and passions, so you can build a life that makes you happy and helps you feel content.
o Say thank you, hold a door open, let another person or car pass ahead of you, or to be kind to someone you don’t know.
o Give away some of your “extras” to someone who has no “extras.”
o Learn something new to expand what you know and your contribution to the world.
o Make the first call even when it is the other person’s obligation or turn.
o Share a call, thought, card or gift with someone you love or who needs to hear from you – just because.
o Say you are sorry when you hurt someone – even if you didn’t mean to.
o Allow another to have an opinion different than yours, and still respect them.
o Spend more time with your pet.
o Sing, dance, laugh, tell a joke, cry or be more human, even when others you don’t know are watching. Invite them to join it.
o Smile at someone you don’t know.
o Bound out of bed, excited you have another day.

How will you never miss an opportunity to connect the very special people in your world? And what can you bring to the world that will make it better for all of us? Never miss your opportunity to celebrate and to make a difference.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 18th, 2010 at 9:55 am and is filed under For Employees, For Individuals, For Managers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.