The Quiet Power of Celebration in Life’s Hardest Moments

Edwin was a patient with metastatic pancreatic cancer under my care. He was in his late 50s and was receiving systemic treatment. What I remember and appreciate the most about Edwin (not his real name) is that he would always come with a smile. He never failed to tell me what went well despite all the challenges he was facing. Even in his last days, when he gained 20 pounds from fluid retention, when he was too weak to walk by himself, he was still smiling. If you were there, you would have felt his presence of calm and peace. He always found something to celebrate. He celebrated how he tolerated his treatment. He celebrated how the new pain regimen worked better. He celebrated that the regular tapping of his abdominal fluid relieved his discomfort.

One of the things I enjoy about having deeper relationships with the patients is that I get to learn from them. Edwin is a great example of choosing to live life rather than focusing on dying. We all will die – we just do not know when and how it will happen. Advanced cancer patients may sometimes have a better estimate of when they will leave this world. It is the journey that counts. It is the journey of living, not dying. Although we often cannot control our circumstances, we get to choose how to approach them.

It is easy to celebrate when things are going well, according to your expectations. The challenge is to celebrate when it seems like everything is not going well. The good news is that celebration can be a personal event. You do not have to celebrate with a group of people. You can celebrate on your own about anything and everything.

It is a decision to celebrate or not. If you decide to celebrate every day, your mind will be open to finding something to celebrate. And why not? How do you feel when you celebrate? You get to experience more joy in life. Unless you are completely opposed to feeling joyful, the ability to celebrate under any circumstances is a great skill to have.

Search for something to celebrate. Since no one but you get to determine what you want to celebrate or not, why not set a low bar to celebrate? Celebration allows you to have more capacity to undergo difficult times. Celebration allows you to be even more joyful in happier times. Celebrate along the way of your life journey.

Celebration does not mean you are ignoring your current situation. It does not mean that you are flipping a switch to believe that everything is great. Allowing yourself to celebrate when you are down, when you are frustrated, overwhelmed or scared lets you shift your focus to feeling better and to living a better life. Edwin could not change the fact that he had advanced cancer. He got to choose how to live. He chose to smile and celebrate. He chose to focus on the good. That decision of choosing to celebrate not only made him feel better, he also influenced people around him in a positive way. He was a good reminder of focusing on the good and tackling the bad at the same time. He was an example of how our choices could affect our feelings and our actions.

You do not have to wait until a big accomplishment to celebrate. Celebrate along the way. Celebrate how you handle certain situations. Celebrate how you help a patient understand the misconceptions. Celebrate the many lives you are helping with your expertise. Celebrate with your patients, your staff and your family. Even when you think that your job is consuming you, look for something to celebrate – you get to help people, you get compensated for your services. Celebration does not mean you are complacent; it means that you are pausing at this moment to acknowledge and appreciate something. The more you celebrate, the better you feel, and the more mental capacity you will have to face life’s challenges.