Today is Thursday. It’s the day after my parents 33rd anniversary. Today is the day after Earth Day, and this week is Earth Week. Today is Yom YaAtzmaut, Israels Independence Day, and the day after Yom HaZikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day. Today marks three days until my girlfriend comes back from a month overseas. One of my best friends is getting married in less than two weeks.

Today is a big day! So much going on, so much to celebrate, so much to look forward to. Milestones like these give us all an opportunity, or excuse, to celebrate. But for those who don’t find meaning in any of those milestones I’ve listed, today is Thursday April 23rd, 2015, and there are two days left until it’s finally the weekend.

It is a shame that the majority of us spend our lives looking forward to the next thing, the next reason to celebrate, rather than living in and appreciating the present moment. Most of our lives are spend in between milestones, so why not celebrate this time and enjoy it to the greatest extent possible. Why not shift the paradigm? Instead of jumping from milestone to milestone, take a step back and appreciate everything that life has to offer, in the present moment.

That is why I like to find every opportunity to celebrate, I find every excuse to appreciate my experiences, sometimes to a fault. This is similar to “it’s about the journey, not the destination,” but though we all have heard this saying, most of us don’t hold it as a core value. Practicing mindfulness and actively working to live “in the moment” can help you appreciate and enjoy more and more of your life, rather than just the major milestones we look forward to that almost never live up to their highly built-up expectations.

Find something you enjoy in everything you do, especially the tasks and activities that are the most mundane, or the experiences that are the most frustrating. When you find yourself daydreaming about an upcoming event, or feeling negative about your current situation, stop for a moment and think “what is something about this that I enjoy, or something I can enjoy if I shift my paradigm?” Challenge yourself to find something. You might surprise yourself.

If we work to shift our perspectives about celebration and move away from the unquenchable anticipation for future events, and instead find the reason to celebrate every moment, we are making the most of where we all spend the majority from our lives, in between events. What celebration are you missing right now?

“Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.” – Siddhārtha Gautama