How do you celebrate success?

"Success?" you say in astonishment. "I can't remember the last time I felt successful, let alone celebrate it."

I know the feeling. Often I feel disheartened by my seeming lack of progress in stubborn areas that aren't moving along as fast as I'd imagined. But a recent "woo hoo" event made me realize that success happens in a lot of unexpected ways. We just don't notice.

You may know by now that my book about us- Confessions of an ADDiva - midlife in the non-linear lane (http://www NULL.confessionsofanaddiva NULL.net)" won First Prize in the Women's Issue category from the 2012 Next Generation Indie Book Awards. It was truly something to celebrate. But after the initial elation, I found myself dismissing the award. "Oh there probably weren't many entries." I told myself. "And I'll bet that the judge for Women's Issue has ADD and that's why it won."

See how I diminished the importance of a pretty important award? I think we all do that, with big stuff like awards but with little stuff too, like finishing the dinner dishes. We all have success every single day of our lives. They may not earn a gold medal like the book award, but they are every bit as important.

You finally talked to your boss about those deadlines you missed? Success! You renewed your drivers license before your birthday? Success! You made a dreaded trip to the dentist and survived? Success!

You see, it's all how we look at our lives. When we build on success, we see more and more success around us. Like "what you focus on expands."

So I've decided to puff out my chest a little and feel extra special about winning that award. No matter how many people entered. I won. I might even brag a little. And you can do the same.

It does no good to hide our light under that proverbial basket. We deserve to stop a moment and bask in the good feelings of completion or courage or planning. There is no such thing as a small success for an ADDiva...or for anyone else for that matter.

Take five minutes right now to think of a dozen successes you've created in the past week. Then write them down somewhere you'll find the list. Then add to it. And boast a little, even if only to yourself. You absolutely, 100% deserve it.