Its graduation time and many people are completing a college degree or a high school diploma.  This calls for a celebration!  The journey has been long, with both highs and lows, lots of work and also fun. I made it —– THIS IS MY BIG DAY! Congratulations on your accomplishments!

I was recently listening to a 2010 graduate talking about her graduation day and the party that is to follow.  It was going to be an event – with family traveling great distances to join in the ceremony and celebration of her degree. If fact, I was going to be such a big event that the price tag was estimated at $3,000. Since my mouth was hanging open I didn’t ask what all this was going to include, but she volunteered that she and her husband were paying for all expenses for everyone attending.  Keep in mind that this young woman has a mountain of student loans to pay back and a husband is enrolled in an advanced degree program beginning in the fall.

What struck me about this was the emphasis on this being MY BIG day – as if there were no other big days. Let’s put this in perspective.  Yes, this is a big day for graduation from college.  There was a big day for graduation from high school as well as numerous big days in a lifetime. There is not one big day. In many ways, every day is a big day.

I’m looking out at the most beautiful tulips in the yard. This is the first day the blooms have opened.  This is a big day – the first day of many big days for these blooms to shine in the sun. Each blade of grass is having a big day as it soaks up the rain. The dog walking down the street holding his leach in his mouth is having a big day. As we appreciate the simple pleasures of life, everyday can be my big day.

Each big day is made of big moments – that brighten the hohum of chores, mundane tasks and moody co-workers. Sometimes just getting something completed is a big moment in a big day. Relaxing to visit with a friend, take a walk, or enjoy your favorite hobby is a big moment. We often take for granted the big moments that make up a big day. In fact, we don’t even see the moments that could fill the big day.  They fly right by us – unnoticed!

So, tomorrow morning when you open you eyes, make a pact with yourself to have a “BIG DAY.”   Notice the moments of your day, and look for something funny, happy, new, unusual, beautiful or silly in each moment.  When you appreciate the moments – every day is a BIG DAY.