Today is the 10th of May. The month is moving quite fast. May 1st was International Labour Day. It is celebrated globally every year as a day that commemorates the struggles and gains made by workers and the Labour movement. It was a public holiday. How did you spend the holiday? Personally, I took out some few hours to do a reflection and check out the month. I noticed that the month is loaded with a lot of celebrations. I will give a rundown of the celebrations this month.
May 2nd, World Tuna Day. It was established by the United Nations (UN) to raise awareness about the importance of tuna fish.
Press Freedom Day, observed on May 3rd, is meant to evaluate press freedoms around the world and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in exercising their duty.
May 6th, International Day on Diet, is a celebration of body acceptance, including fat acceptance and body shape diversity.
May 7th, World Athletics Day, is to raise awareness about sports among youth in school and institutions, to promote athletics as the primary sport and to introduce new talents and youngsters in the field of athletics.
World Asthma Day is observed every year on the first Tuesday of May to spread awareness and care about asthma in the world. This year’s event fell on May 7th.
World Red Cross Day is observed on May 8th every year to commemorate the birth anniversary of the founder of the Red Cross, Henry Dunant. He became the first recipient of the 1st Nobel Peace Prize.
May 12th is International Nurses Day, which is observed to commemorate the birthday anniversary of Florence Nightingale. This day also celebrates the contributions of nurses to the society around the world.
May 12th (second Sunday in May) is also Mother’s Day to honour motherhood and mothers.
International Day of Families is observed every year on May 15th. Family is the basic unit of the society. This day provides an opportunity to raise awareness about the issues related to families and to increase knowledge about the social, economic and demographic processes that affect families.
May 17th is World Hypertension Day. The day promotes awareness about hypertension and encourages people to prevent and control this silent killer epidemic.
May 18th is World AIDS Vaccine Day. May 19th is International Museum Day. May 31 st is Anti Tobacco Day. It is marked every year across the globe to educate people about the harmful effects of tobacco on health, including cardiovascular diseases, cancer, tooth decay, staining of teeth, etc.
All the celebrations for the month of May are linked with family. As a family life healing educator, I know that family is one of the most beautiful relationships, so you don’t have to lose your family and health on your way to making a daily living. As men and women, at times we make the mistake of neglecting our treasured possession, our family.
Time passes swiftly and lost time can never be regained. You don’t know what shape your life would take, so make the most of today with your family; build memories and create bonding time; restructure and create time to enjoy a more thriving family time; play more and love more. If you live far from your families and loved ones, call them regularly; send them text messages; plan word quizzes or other educational board games together, like chess. Do something everyone can enjoy together. Do all you can to build a thriving family life. Work hard but don’t destroy the foundation of your family life with workaholism. Money is very important for a thriving family but money is not everything.
Be aware of the body language you use in relating with your spouse and children. Check your choice of words, voice tonality. Be an example; model kindness, care, love, honour, respect, empathy. Intentionally create fond memories to last a lifetime. If possible, simplify your life and treasure your family.
I went for a funeral one day. The person that died was a young spouse of a close relative. That day, as a person I realized that one day I am going to hug my family and spouse for the last time and talk to them for the last time. I don’t know when that last time will be. So I woke up the next morning and decided as a person to live every day as if It were the last time I would be with my family, spouse and friends. Tomorrow is never promised. Treat your family and spouse warmly and connect deeply. Live life on God, purpose, family and career.
A thriving marriage is possible but the demand on it is hard work and heart work. We are daily stressed out from hectic jobs and different side hustles, so we need to get very intentional about building a thriving family.
