365 Days vs. One Day
Why Every Day Matters More Than the Anniversary.
Recently, I found myself thinking about anniversaries… how much pressure we put on them… whether it’s the excitement of planning them or the frustration when they don’t go as hoped. How we count down to that one day, and how easily it can overshadow the meaning of the 365 days that actually led us to it.
And I say this as someone who once did the same…
Counting down to a single day, imagining the perfect moment, and feeling hurt or disappointed if it didn’t turn out exactly as I’d hoped. But the truth is, anniversaries are just one day…
A day made up of 365 other days that led to it.
Isn’t it those 365 days that deserve the real celebration? The ordinary days, the challenging days, the days where love wasn’t easy but was still chosen.
Because that’s what love is… a choice.
Every day, you wake up and consciously love the person you’re with; every day, you choose to stay through the ups and downs; every day, you stick by your partner even when it’s easier to walk away… those are the moments worth celebrating. If you ask me, at least.
In a world that makes leaving so easy… where convenience, options, and escape routes are everywhere… choosing to stay is an act of real resilience.
It’s not about perfection; no one can be their best self every day.
Some days, you wake up drained, frustrated, or just off, sometimes for a reason for no reason at all. They are all normal. Maybe your partner annoyed you, or life threw challenges your way, or maybe you just weren’t feeling 100%.
Yet, if you wake up and still choose to love, to stay, and to commit, you’ve already achieved something worth celebrating, worth honoring, and worth acknowledging.
Anniversaries often become a symbol of accomplishment… which is why we like celebrating them with champagne, trips, gifts, fancy dinners, grand gestures, etc. But those celebrations wouldn’t mean anything without the quiet victories of those everyday moments that got us there.
It’s the hardship, resilience, and joy of those 365 days that make an anniversary feel like an accomplishment. The days when you wanted to scream, cry, or walk away but didn’t. The days when you found joy in the smallest things, gave yourself… or each other… a reason to smile. The days when you stayed, chose, loved, and fought for what mattered most… even when it felt hard.
This isn’t just about romantic relationships. Anniversaries can apply to a celebration that means anything to us. It applies to friendships, work milestones, hobbies, and even the relationships we have with ourselves. Anything we’ve invested time, energy, and our hearts into deserves to be celebrated.
Every time we persevere and recommit to what we love, we celebrate the journey, not just the destination. In fact, the journey means more. How we got to where we got to, together with the things that got us there…
Anniversaries are meaningful because of the 365 days that came before them… the sacrifices, the laughter, the tears, the ordinary, and the extraordinary.
Just like how love isn’t just about the big moments; it’s about the daily choice to act, to commit, and to stay….
So if you ask me, we need to celebrate every day. Even if you don’t do anything monumental or even if you don’t say it out loud, recognize the effort it takes to wake up and choose love.
We deserve to honor the effort it takes to choose love, remain steadfast, and be present. And when that milestone day arrives, we should let it reflect all the days we lived and loved to get there.
In the end, love is an action. It is a commitment… one we consciously choose and fight for daily.
That’s the beauty of an anniversary: it’s not just a date; it’s the sum of all the days and feelings that brought us there.
As someone who romanticizes life’s big and small moments, I do think anniversaries are special, but no more so than the 365 days that made them possible.
That’s where the story is.
