Birthdays

Birthdays! Now that’s a thought. I found myself contemplating life, trying to think of a topic for this week; one that everyone might identify with and I thought “Birthdays”. I know, a funny thought but everyone has one…. Birthdays that is, not necessarily thoughts… Or at least they should….. So what about them? Birthdays, I know I am not too particularly fond of them. I know they come and I know they go, but what else? Is there really any meaning or value here? Birthdays! What is of value other than they are something every one has; at least ONCE? I had to give this some thought.

Well, birthdays do come and go and one was about to go, MINE. Since it was my  birthday the thought crossed my mind that I might as well put some energy into what this day was all about. What do birthdays really mean? Birthdays, what are they really? Are they something other than days one would rather just get behind them? Are they more than days when people call you who have never called you since your last birthday? Or are they just visits from people who drop by thinking you have nothing better to do than wait around for them to show up, then you wait for them to leave? Good questions I thought. At least they were thoughts and questions I have had.

So what are they anyway? Birthdays! What happens and Why? Now that’s a thought, since I don’t really believe in Why other than “because and I don’t know”. Now the What?.... Parties maybe?

Sometimes birthdays do come with parties and they are usually parties you would never go to if left to your own accord. They often come with cake you don’t like, frosting you have to gag down and presents you don’t need or would never purchase in the first place. Birthdays… a day when people make a fuss over your age, treat you like a child and then expect you to lie and tell them you appreciate being made the brunt of their “old” jokes. All the while you are thankful you made it another 12 months and question if you have the energy to make it another 12, sometimes hoping you won’t. With each Birthday, the days get shorter but sometimes the minutes just drag by as you find the last time you looked at the clock it was still 2:00 a.m. and it felt like it was 4 hours ago…. Birthdays…..

I was beginning to think this Birthday “thinking” was not such a good idea. My present thoughts were definitely affecting my search for meaning and value. Go figure!

I use to think Birthdays should be for ones parents, not for ones self. After all, they are the people to whom your birth is really important. They planned, they waited, they saved and they persevered to get you. Your birth is something YOU have to get over, get through, and get on with. It’s filled with trauma, starting with the birth canal. It was the beginning of your life, with only one destination and that wasn’t to do it all over again.

Where as YOUR birth is something different to your parents. It is a celebration and hopefully a reminder of what they have done “right” in this world…. It is a start of something that never changes no matter how old we get. What? Simple put, they will always be Mom and Dad, and we will always be Children. No matter how old we get and how many birthdays we have; that configuration remains the same.

Yet, that doesn’t seem altogether right either….. How many of us send thank you cards for bringing me into this world to our parents, on our birthdays? Right! I rest my case! So, maybe birthdays and their celebrations really ARE about us? About cherishing the life our parents have given us and honoring a time when others want to let us know that we are important to them as well. That our presence, our birth, has made a difference and they want to acknowledge it by letting us know in some small way that yes, we are important and yes, we are loved. After all, it is not what we do in this life that is important, it is who we touch, how we touch them and the manner in which we impact others that our legacy is built. It is here we receive real value and it all starts with our birthday.

So, maybe birthdays are important after all? What CAN they be? They can be a way for us to honor others by letting them know we appreciate their kindness or remembrance. They can be an avenue to express our love, devotion and respect to others in ways that touch the heart and give comfort to the soul. They can be the days in which we give value to life and days in which we can take one day each year to value ourselves as well. It can be the life our parents gave us; the opportunity to become more than our collective parts.

Birthdays are days of hope, shedding light upon the past while giving a sense of purpose to the future. They are a manner in which one can count the march of time while being an active participant instead of a passive observer. Birthdays are the mile makers of life, giving us pause to contemplate not only the passing of time but the desire of the future…

Birthdays give us quarter to evaluate our strength, our purpose and our effect on life.

Birthdays give us the chance to rectify past mistakes and fortify future goals, for this day really is the first day of the rest of your life….

So whether you are 19 or 91 you have the responsibility to take possession of YOUR day….. It is a day to grasp with vigor and to live fully, for it truly only comes once…. It is a great day. A day not to waste; a day not to let just drift by!

Yes, birthdays truly mark the first day of the rest of one’s life…..

Again, It’s all about choice… Not the choice to have one one. That choice was made for you already but the choice in which YOU decide how to live…. No, you don’t have to wait until your B-Day comes around… Take the time to celebrate someone else… Yes, birthdays are celebrations; celebrations of life… You can fulfill your part by living today… Call you parents. Tell them how much you love them. Let them know how much you care. Call your children… Let them know how important they are to you and how much you value the day they came into your life….

Yes, birthdays are about living….. They are about VALUE. I know who I value. I have made my choice. Isn’t it time you make yours?

Go ahead, Right now…. Pick up that phone…..

Until later….. Don’t wait for the right time. Then again maybe you should, for the RIGHT time is right NOW.

Live life by being fully present, in your life, today.