Have you ever had that feeling right after cutting your lawn – you know that puffy chest sort of pride where you look at the neighbours on either side and realize that your lawn looks the best!

This feeling may only last for a day until your neighbour realizes that your lawn is shorter than his. He will soon scurry out to trim his blades as well but for that fleeting moment you were the king of your yard and were convinced that everyone within a few block radius could feel your superiority and bowed down to your above average horticultural skills.

We all have pride of ownership whether it is in our newly painted bedroom or in our lovely flower beds that we have nurtured all summer – this is a good thing!

It shouldn’t be confused with ego but a little bit of pride in our caretaking of our homes is something to be cherished, even if you cannot admit it to anyone.

That small kernel of accomplishment sits within us and I think that we all deserve to feel a huge sense of pride in the things we can make happen in our homes.

When I bought my home the mailbox and the numbers on the house were a faded, dingy brass which was obviously a throwback from 1982 when someone bought these items to put on the property.

A few weeks back I painted them in a gloss black and hung them back on the house – was I proud!

The next time the pizza guy came to visit I was certain that he must have recognized the effort and the paint fumes I had endured to make this dramatic change on the exterior of my home.

It didn’t matter one bit to him even though he may have had an easier time reading the numbers from the street but it made me feel pretty good about making this small improvement.

Your source of pride can be anything from a recently scrubbed bathroom to a beautifully created meal for your family; we all have those areas in our hearts which make us smile inside.

Even if we never share these moments of back patting with anyone, we know that we have done a good thing and recognize that our love for our homes is reflected in our accomplishments.

It is perfectly acceptable to allow even the small things to impact our sense of well-being as it reinforces in us that we are doing good things and may even spur us on to do even greater and more generous things for our community.

Go ahead, let it wash over you and allow yourself a moment of pride in your latest accomplishments.

Even if you never tell a soul, you will be uplifted within yourself if you give yourself a well-deserved high five.

It is okay to love your home and it is even ‘okay-er’ to spruce things up every now and then which will help you appreciate the lovely place you are allowed to inhabit.

Nobody else may even recognize what you have accomplished and the pizza guy may not show up at your door with balloons for a job well done but you know and you can cherish yourself – it is often the small things we allow ourselves that can bloom into bigger and bigger endeavours.

Kim Wyse is a local freelance designer. Find her on facebook at ‘Ask a Designer’.