Have You Celebrated A Milestone Lately?

If you are a parent or have spent time with children and seen them grow and develop, you may remember them hitting their milestones, whether it be holding their own head, sitting, rolling, or walking. Or, even as they develop into their teens and beyond, you may have seen them hit personal milestones, such as passing their driving test or securing their first job. These moments are certainly a fun time to acknowledge their achievement and celebrate.

I got thinking about milestones over the weekend as I watched my baby attempt to crawl. She’s not quite there yet, but I know it won’t be long! And it made me ask myself, “when did I last celebrate a personal milestone?” I realised it’s been a while. Which is why this week, I would like to pose the same question to you. “When did you last celebrate a milestone?”

It can be so easy to celebrate someone else’s win, even if it is a small progression. But quite often our own can go unnoticed. This may be because we don’t think it justifies acknowledgment, we don’t make time to identify them, or because we are so focused on other peoples! And I certainly fit into all these categories! But acknowledging our own progress can help us to see that we are moving forward, getting better, and growing, and also helps to bring fulfillment and joy to our days, because who doesn’t like to be celebrated?!

Celebrating our milestones can be applicable to all areas of life, and I would encourage you to take time to reflect on those. But for the rest of this blog, I am going to focus on your health.

If you have been visiting Epoch for a while and are now attending your visits less frequently because you have made great progress with your health, it can sometimes feel like you have reached your peak; that there isn’t further progress to be made. For the vast majority, however, it is often the case that as you progress with care, the changes become less noticeable.

Why is that the case?

Because you have come so far! Your original consultation visits when you likely had a specific concern, whether that be recurrent headaches, shooting pain down the leg, limited mobility in your neck and shoulders, whatever it was, can soon be forgotten when that pain goes away. But the beautiful thing about your body is that it continues to evolve and adapt, and as you continue to look after yourself with chiropractic care, nutrition, exercise etc, your body will continue to get stronger and healthier. The changes are still happening; however they can seem less dramatic.

So when it comes to your health and how your body feels right now, take a moment to reflect on how far you have come, and give yourself a big pat on the back. Take a moment to bask in the feeling. And as you go forward, continue to celebrate them. Whether it be the fact that you can now play with your grandchildren pain free, drive to your holiday destination without having to stop every 20 minutes due to back pain, or simply being able to raise your shoulder to reach the tin out of the cupboard.

Milestones will be very individual. But I promise you, no step in the right direction is insignificant, and they certainly deserve a moment to be acknowledged! This is why we ensure we carry out regular progress examinations for those receiving chiropractic care, but quite often, there are many milestones that you achieve weekly that can be celebrated along the way too if you look out for them.

Circling back to the beginning. As I mentioned, I am also guilty of not celebrating milestones. Once I took a moment to reflect over the weekend, a couple came up that happened recently which I thought I would share to help get the ball rolling. I went out for a short bike ride over the weekend, which was the first time in a year due to pregnancy/birth. And I pushed my comfort zone and took my baby to a soft play centre; something I have been avoiding, but we both enjoyed it! They may seem tiny in the grand scheme of things, but just like my baby deserves celebrating as she starts to crawl, I also deserve to celebrate myself.

And so do you.

I may not be in practice to see your physical progress right now, but I do hear about the wins that are happening and I am celebrating from afar, and the team will continue to celebrate too. But don’t forget to keep attune for the milestones you hit each week and celebrate yourself. You deserve it.

And if you are in the early stages of your care at Epoch and taking care of yourself at home, don’t worry, your milestones won’t be far away!

So, “what milestones are you celebrating this week?!”

I would love to hear.

With love,

Sarah