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There were over 200 in attendance and their pride at having
survived and thrived over 17 years was obvious. The celebration
got me thinking about celebrating, and I’ve come to the
following conclusion — we don’t celebrate enough. I think we
have (understandably) a tendency toward crisis management, i.e.
focusing on those things that are going wrong or that need
“fixing.” I think there is also a tendency to put celebrating
off until we have something “big” to celebrate.
Portland/Vancouver could have waited to celebrate when
they turned 20 . . . or 25. But, to their credit, they didn’t.
It’s particularly important for TIP programs to celebrate
regularly because of the potentially
depressing work that we do. I believe we need to focus on the
good things that occur so that we are able to deal with the
daily tragedies we confront.
Here are some of the benefits a TIP Affiliate can expect from
making celebrating a priority. . .
. . . Celebrating fuels pride among volunteers and staff.
Volunteers need a sense of pride in the TIP organization to stay
involved.
. . . Celebrating involves community members and TIP Champions,
and renews their
commitment to TIP.
. . . Celebrating is fun, and we need fun in our work lives.
. . . Celebrating is essential to team building.
. . . Celebrating provides positive memories which become
important parts of an Affiliate’s history.
So,
let’s celebrate . . . awards, birthdays, victories, etc. These
celebrations don’t always need to be “big productions” with lots
of people. They may involve small groups of people celebrating
the successful completion of a project or even two (2) people
celebrating meeting a difficult challenge.
I’d love to hear about (and even be invited to) your
celebrations.
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