We are worth it
This week I turned 44. After the big 4-0 birthdays feel sort of lackluster, and I don’t plan much to celebrate the occasion because it doesn’t feel like a big event. It doesn’t feel worth the trouble.
My friend asked me what I would like to do for my birthday and I told her “I don’t know. I hadn’t planned on doing anything. I wasn’t going to celebrate this year.”
Not to sound morbid, but I truly hadn’t thought about it. I imagined it would be just another day that would come and go and no one would notice. I’m only turning 44 after all. Not a landmark age in the scheme of things, right?
But she responded, “I’m gonna take you out! We ARE celebrating. I’m glad you were born!”
And that got me thinking, “Well dang, I should be also.”
Why is it we get so humdrum about our lives? We can celebrate others but not ourselves.
I know we get busy, and I realize we get lost in the shuffle of responsibilities, paying bills, schedules, work, and all the rest. So when birthdays roll around maybe they do not feel important. Maybe we don’t have the energy or the enthusiasm about our birthdays that we should.
Well they absolutely should be important to us.
You’ve survived another year on this planet and I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but every year seems to get harder. Even though there are blessings to be found, there are always more challenges as well.
It’s well worth strumming up some celebratory enthusiasm about your day of birth.
Take a nice long look in the mirror and say, “Hey YOU, we made it another 365 days on this sphere of dust and water. You were born and have been here this many years. You’re still here and there’s a lot to be thankful for. People would notice if you weren’t here. You bring something to the planet no one else does.”
And if that’s a bit too Stuart Smalley (Al Franken-snl) for ya, just take a glance at yourself and smile and maybe pat yourself on the back. Go buy a cupcake and enjoy your free cup of birthday coffee at Starbucks or Dunkin’ and just choose to be glad you were born — even if you don’t particularly feel like it.
We owe it to ourselves.
I look back at the years I wasn’t sure if I’d be here another year. Cancer, debilitating depression, the pandemic. Those times when everything was a question mark and the future was the most uncertain it had ever been.
My friend’s response convicted my heart and changed my attitude (thank you dear Sydney).
Life is the most precious thing we have. Whether it’s with loved ones or by yourself, find a way to acknowledge your one precious life on the day of YOUR birth. Do something special for yourself. Allow others to celebrate you, or find a quiet moment to reflect and celebrate yourself.
You’re worth it. We are worth it. Happy Birthday to you, belated or upcoming. Happy Birthday to me. I’m so glad that we were born and that we are still here.
Here’s to 44.