Celebrate Life Week: Celebrate and Give the Gift of Life

The hustle and bustle of the holidays are behind us and it’s a new year. January reminds us not only of the fresh start, but also to celebrate life! National Celebrate Life week is celebrated annually January 1-7^th. This week was established in to help us break free of our schedules and ease into the year with hearts of gratitude. It’s about taking time to focus on the small things, on the big things, and all the important people in your life, as well as yourself. The purpose of this week is to encourage us to embrace life and all the wonderful blessings it has to offer us.

What is Celebrate Life Week?

The holiday season often throws us into a mess of planning, creating, and organizing that can leave us feeling happy and fulfilled but also drained and forgetful of the truly important things. Celebrate Life Week helps us remember the most important thing we should be celebrating 一 life itself! This week encourages us to embrace the seemingly simple fact of being alive!

There are so many things to celebrate about life. From your large achievements, to closing on a new house, or the raise your job just offered you, or even that wellness goal you just achieved. Even smaller goals like learning a new recipe or finally wrapping up that book you’ve been reading, or personal achievements like getting through that emotional hurdle, are all worth celebrating.

The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad.

Psalm 118:24

How to Observe Celebrate Life Week

We have been conditioned to wait for an external reason to feel excited and energized about life. Unfortunately, when we wait for a reason to celebrate life, we waste precious opportunities to enjoy the present moment. There is power in realizing we can feel excited about life without actually being in the midst of a special event. All we really need to do is give ourselves the gift of celebrating more often — simply because we can.

There are many ways to participate in Celebrate Life week. Here are a few suggestions for how you can observe and celebrate life this week:

• Celebrate yourself and the important people in your life with an in-person or virtual meetup
• Play games
• Dance
• Take time for you
• Take a mental health day
• Go on a well-deserved vacation
• Watch a favorite movie
• Read a good book
• Eat dessert first
• Reconnect with an old friend
• Make a list of all the people you are thankful for and tell them how much you appreciate them
• Take a walk in nature
• Make the ordinary extra

And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.

Ecclesiastes 3:13

The struggles of life often have us forgetting just how blessed we are to be alive. This week serves as a reminder to us of what a wonderful blessing it is to have life. We have the chance to block out the struggles and just enjoy life.

Celebrate Life by Giving Life!

Another way to celebrate life is by donating blood to help give life to those in need. January is National Blood Donor Month, which has been observed in January since 1970. The goal has always been to increase blood and platelet donations during winter, which is a challenging time of the year to collect enough blood products to meet the needs of patients. Historically, blood banks across the country see a decrease in donations around this time for many reasons, including seasonal illnesses like the flu, which may cause some donors to become temporarily unable to donate.

According to America’s Blood Center, roughly three percent of the U.S. population donates blood each year. A blood transfusion occurs every two seconds in America and a single donation can save multiple lives. During the winter months blood supply has dipped to concerning levels and could force hospitals to delay essential blood and platelet transfusions. Blood donors of all blood types – particularly type O blood, the blood group hospitals need most – are needed now to give blood or platelets to help meet daily hospital demands.

5 Benefits of Donating Blood

The health benefits of donating blood are considerable—but of course, the most important part of the process is helping to save lives. Donating blood is good for you, and it’s even better for all the people who desperately need the help. 5 Benefits of donating blood include:

1. Reducing harmful iron stores
2. Lower your risk of a heart attack
3. Reduce your risk of cancer
4. Improve your mental state
5. Be part of a greater community

How to Donate Blood

Blood is the most precious gift that anyone can give to another person – the gift of life. A decision to donate your blood can save a life, or even several if your blood is separated into its components – red cells, platelets and plasma – which can be used individually for patients with specific conditions. To learn more about where to donate blood and requirement to see if you are eligible to donate you can visit the Red Cross website for more information.

Next Week’s Blog:

Don’t miss next week’s blog post as WeShare more about finding hobbies as we age: Growing into the next phase of life.

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