I feel like it is very common for people to hate their birthdays. I've never been sure why. To be honest I have always loved my birthday. Obviously because of the presents and the Instagram shoutouts- I've always been a fan of attention. But, birthdays symbolize a beginning and an end. A beginning to a new year around the sun and new memories to be made. An end to the year before and to a chapter in your life. The year could have been the best you ever had or worse than you could ever imagine, but it has come and now it has gone.
Birthdays also remind me of the people I am most grateful for. My family, my friends- old and new, near and far. Days like today remind of the people I have collected over my lifetime. Even if you don't talk to someone everyday, there is something about a birthday that lets someone show that they are still there in your pocket.
Birthdays allow you to reflect on the person you were and dream of the person you can become. They are like mini New Year's where you can make a declaration that this is what I want to be when I am a certain age. You are able to take what you learned and apply it to better your life. That is specifically what I am most excited about. I did a lot of work on myself in the year 23. I started therapy for the first time in my life. I quit my job and got a new one in an industry I had no experience in. I grew in my friendships and made new ones. I went through a lot at 23 and I am excited to see all of that pay off in 24.
I think it helps that I don't feel the pressure a lot of people do when it comes to birthdays. No one in my life is really getting married or having kids so I don't feel like I am missing out on big life experiences. Ya, sometimes I wish I would date around more, but I also realize that I like the person I am become and don't want to waste my time with someone I don't actually like just to keep up with my peers. Birthdays are not meant to be a contest of who can measure up to the status quo. They are meant to celebrate getting through another year of this crazy world.
Even in some of my hardest, messiest years, there have been wonderful moments. Thats all life is, a series of moments. Moments you love, moments you don't, but either way you can choose what to do with them. You can wallow in the misery or you can look back on them fondly. Every moment builds you into the person you are today and that is something to be grateful for.
I hope I keep this attitude as I get older. I keep thinking about the year that I will finally "get it". Maybe that year will be soon and maybe that year will be later, but each birthday I am growing closer and closer to it! Happy Birthday to me! I love you guys more than imaginable. My small but might crew, my favorite people, my readers. If you are reading this- you mean the world to me. The idea that someone else is out there reading the thoughts I type on this computer is crazy!
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Stay UNIQUE,
Sara Anne
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