Rebuilding Rob

,

A Party of One

Published by

rebuilding rob

on

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

What is your favorite way to celebrate milestones or achievements?

I’d like to say that my favorite way to celebrate milestones or achievements is with family and friends – the people who love me around me to share in the moment.

But the truth is, as I’ve gotten more used to doing things myself, I find that my favorite ways to celebrate milestones or achievements are just that: alone. For me, reaching a milestone or an achievement has become more about a time to reflect. I find that when I do accomplish something, I look back on what it took to get me there; where was at in the beginning and how far I’ve come in that time.

Even as I’m typing that, it sounds a bit sad or depressing even to me. But the truth is, I think I’ve hit a point in my life where I am content in being alone. I can find peace in solitude. this is not to say that I want to be completely antisocial. Humans need to interact with other humans, that’s just a fact. Otherwise, we would all be walking around talking to volleyballs.

More to the point, I’ve realized having people around you, or more to the point large groups of people around you is not the end all, be all of human existence. We can’t determine the value of our lives by how popular we are or the number of likes and followers we get on social media, and having a romantic partner damn sure is not what gives our lives meaning

This isn’t to say that it’s not important or even good to have people around you to celebrate the achievements in your life. It absolutely feels good. It’s validation. It’s a sign that people love you and care about you. But if you have to celebrate a milestone by yourself, it’s not the end of the world. 

Went back to the question at hand, as to how I would celebrate a milestone over achievement. Most likely, I would want to go to a baseball game. I said over and over again it’s my favorite sport and it reminds me of my favorite time of year. I think my other option would be going to a beach.

I see people who will have big parties for their milestone birthdays or even milestone wedding anniversaries. I remember a little over 11 years ago now attending a surprise 40th birthday party for one of my oldest friends in this life, the apostle. His wife put it together for him; but realistically, I don’t believe for a minute that he could have not known about it. In any event, it was neat to see for him. It was neat to see his family, his coworkers, and his friends all around him. Personally, I would probably feel awkward being the center of that amount of attention, but his wife’s heart was in the right place and people showed up to the party.

In fact, that takes me back to my own experiences. Back when X1 and I were together, we had a span of about 12 months where we both became very interested during surprise parties, not just for each other, but even for some of our neighbor friends. I can’t lie: it was an amazing feeling. Walking in and seeing that many people waiting there for you – to celebrate you just to say “hey Rob, we love you”.

But today, I think I would be annoyed if I walked into my house and there was a room full of people waiting there to surprise me. Maybe it’s my age. Maybe it’s because of the way life has changed in this electronically stimulated, post Covid world.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related (and perhaps, not-so-related) posts:

AI art created using Google Gemini

The article “a party of one“ first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.

Designed with WordPress

Leave a comment

Previous Post
Next Post