Birthday Celebration

Celebrate The Past Year

My birthday is in a couple of weeks. I don't get excited by my birthdays anymore. I probably should, but I don't. My mom made my birthday special each year, and since she has been gone I just can't muster the enthusiasm anymore. This is not to say that others don't get together and celebrate with me, because they do. I have a wonderful family, and wonderful friends who never forget me - it's just that mom is missing.

I watched a brief clip of Dr. Christiane Northrup on Super Soul Sunday and what she said really resonated with me. She said, "we all have the power to start living agelessly. One of the first steps? Adjusting your attitude toward birthdays. I would stop celebrating milestone birthdays ... because the milestone becomes a millstone," she says. "In our culture, it says you're running out of time. You only have so much left." That's exactly how I have been feeling lately, like I am running out of time. Because with each birthday I think, "oh god, I am getting so old, I don't have much time left."

I only started feeling this way in the past two years though. I think two events in my life brought it home for me: the birth of my granddaughter, and looking for a job. The birth of my granddaughter because I know that I won't have a lifetime with her anymore, and the job because I am at that unemployable age - I have the experience and wisdom, but I also need more from my employer like health insurance and a higher wage. 

Sounds sad but there are also good things that have come about for me since I have gotten older.

I love that I am free-er to do as I please. I love that I don't care what others think of me anymore. I love that I am not worried about how I look all the time, that I am okay with not being perfect, that my friends and family accept me for who I am. And, I love that I am a grandma.

Dr. Christiane also said that in celebration of our birthday we should celebrate the past year, our accomplishments, what we are proud of - this would be a affirmation of our self-worth.

What a wonderful way of looking at birthdays.