I hit a lot of milestones this year. It was my 10-year-anniversary as a writer. I’ve done push-ups and sit-ups every day for five years. And my daily blog has now been published for over 1,000 days.
I didn’t feel like celebrating any of these achievements. For all the meaningful markers along the road, financially and career-wise, it’s been anything but a good year. But we have a saying in German: “Man muss die Feste feiern, wie sie fallen”—”You have to celebrate the festivals as they happen.”
The “Stadtfest” in Zweibrücken is the town’s annual city celebration. Since I went to school there with some of my childhood friends, we all go every year—or try to, at least. One of our traditions is that we take a group picture before we walk down from our meeting spot. Two years ago, I realized that after ten years, I was only in half the pictures. That’s how Stadtfest works: You’re either there, or you’re not. And whatever you do in those last few days of July, history will take note.
When I realized this, I decided to make more of an effort to attend every year. Only time will tell if I’ll live up to that aspiration, but for now, I haven’t missed the two years since. As I sat on my couch, feeling “meh” about my accomplishments, that same saying wiggled it’s way into my brain: “Man muss die Feste feiern, wie sie fallen.” That’s why, in the end, I took some time to reflect and write about each of the mileposts I passed this year.
A bad week needn’t make a good lunch taste any less delicious, and a bad year shouldn’t make you any less proud of how far you’ve come. Celebrate your festivals as they happen—because sometimes, even looking back is an opportunity you get only once while wearing the right glasses.