Today I Choose to be Festive – How to be Festive

Last week, I felt downright festive.

Not because of a holiday. Not because of a party. But because a five-year investment gamble finally, finally paid off.

Five years ago, I bought into a stock at $3.10 a share. Within months, it plunged to 60 cents.

Painful doesn’t begin to cover it.

The Painful Plunge

Watching that stock crater was like watching money literally evaporate. Every time I checked (which was obsessively), it was lower. $2.50… $2.00… $1.50… $1.00…

At 60 cents, I had lost 80% of my investment.

Curtis gently suggested cutting losses. Friends who knew said “sorry about that stock.” My financial advisor pretended it didn’t exist in my portfolio.

But something in me—call it stubbornness, call it belief, call it insanity—said hold on.

Doubling Down on Disaster

Then I did something either brilliant or stupid: I bought more.

When it hit 60 cents, I didn’t just hold—I doubled down. Then bought more at 75 cents. More at $1.00. I was chasing it down like a woman possessed, averaging my cost to $1.82.

Curtis thought I’d lost my mind. “You’re throwing good money after bad.”

Maybe. But I believed in the company. The fundamentals were solid. The market was wrong. I was right.

(Or I was delusional. At 2 AM, staring at red numbers, it was hard to tell.)

The Long, Long Wait

For five years, that stock did nothing spectacular:

• Year 1: Bounced between 60 cents and $1.50
• Year 2: Crept to $2.00, fell back to $1.20
• Year 3: Touched $2.50, crashed to $1.75
• Year 4: Slow climb to $3.00
• Year 5: Steady rise to $4… $5… $6…

Each little rise, I held my breath. Each fall, I held on.

The Day Everything Changed

Last Tuesday, 9:30 AM, market open. I checked like always, expecting the usual $6-something.

$10.15

I blinked. Refreshed the screen. Still $10.15.

Not only had I recovered my original investment—I was up over 450% from my averaged cost.

I literally screamed. Curtis came running, thinking I was hurt.

“THE STOCK HIT TEN DOLLARS!”

The Festive Explosion

We were giddy. Actually giddy. Dancing around the kitchen at 9:30 AM. Curtis popped champagne (we had some from New Year’s). I called my son Tyler, who’s heard me lament this stock for five years.

“Mom, sell it!” he said.

“Not yet,” I laughed. “I’ve earned the right to be festive first!”

We toasted to patience. To stubbornness. To being right when everyone thought I was wrong. To five years of holding on.

Festive Without a Festival

That’s when I realized: Festivity isn’t just for holidays—it’s for moments when patience, belief, and perseverance finally bear fruit. It’s letting yourself celebrate victories big or small.

That whole day, I was festive:

• Bought the good coffee at Starbucks
• Played music too loud in the car
• Told everyone who would listen about my stock
• Bought Curtis dinner at the expensive restaurant
• Stayed up late recalculating profits

It wasn’t a birthday or anniversary. It was a random Tuesday. But it was MY celebration.

The Right to Be Festive

At 61, I’ve learned we don’t celebrate enough. We wait for “real” reasons—birthdays, holidays, promotions. But life’s victories often come on random Tuesdays:

• The medical test that comes back clear
• The adult child who calls just to chat
• The project that finally works
• The pound that finally drops
• The stock that finally rises

These deserve festivity too.

Creating Festive Moments

Since the stock victory, I’ve been practicing being festive about smaller wins:

Successfully parallel parked: Victory dance in the car
Fixed the printer myself: Announced it to the house like I won an Oscar
Finished a difficult spreadsheet: Treated myself to lunch out
Got through to customer service: Literally cheered

Curtis thinks I’ve gone overboard. I think I’ve gone exactly the right amount of board.

The Anatomy of Festive

Festive isn’t just happy—it’s celebration made visible. It’s:

• Joy that demands expression
• Victory that deserves recognition
• Relief that needs release
• Success that calls for champagne (even at 9:30 AM)
• Vindication that feels like dancing

Why We Need More Festive

Life is hard. Victories are rare. When they come—even small ones—they deserve festivity.

That stock could have stayed at 60 cents forever. I could have lost everything. Five years of watching and waiting could have ended in disaster.

But it didn’t. And that deserves champagne.

The Update

The stock? It’s at $11.25 now. I sold half at $10.50 (Tyler’s voice in my head). Keeping half because… well, I’ve earned the right to see where it goes.

But more importantly, I’ve learned to be festive. To celebrate the wins when they come. To dance in the kitchen on random Tuesdays. To pop champagne at inappropriate hours.

Your Festive Moment

What victory are you not celebrating? What win are you downplaying? What success deserves festivity but isn’t getting it?

Stop waiting for “real” reasons to be festive. Your patience paying off IS real. Your perseverance succeeding IS real. Your belief being validated IS real.

Pop the champagne. Do the dance. Tell everyone. Be inappropriately festive about your random Tuesday victory.

Trust me—from someone who waited five years to be festive about a stock—the celebration is part of the victory. Maybe the best part.

At 61, I know this: Life’s too short to be quietly pleased. Be festive. Be loud about your joy. Dance in your kitchen.

Even if it’s 9:30 AM on a Tuesday.

Especially then.