Today is a special day for me. It’s my birthday! Every year this happens on June 12. I am mixed with excitement (presents! cake!)
and anxiety (did I lose that 5 pounds I’d hoped to before my next birthday?).
It’s a milestone in my life I had nothing to do with. My birthday is an arbitrary day to me (I didn’t choose it or control it), but biology and my parents determined this was the date I celebrate each year. Mostly, for me, this is a date of reflection. I look back on the years I’ve been given and what I’ve done with them… and I look forward to what will come in the future.
I can be proud of the many accomplishments I take credit for, including two handsome, loving and talented sons, a wonderful marriage to a great man, great friends who love me fully, and a career that includes many successes and failures. If not for the successes, I wouldn’t know how good it feels to push through adversity and achieve a goal. If not for the failures, I would not know what to avoid, how to manage risk and how delicious success feels!
I tend to list out my successes and failures. Do you? Have you taken inventory of the entirety of your actions to see the big picture? I hope you are not just focusing on the negative, without taking account of the things you have done VERY well and the milestones you have achieved. If you can’t list your successes, ask people close to you to help. Enlist your supporters (your “cheerleaders”) to help you identify the goals, successes and accomplishments you’ve had.
We truly are the sum of our experiences. The good, the bad, the scary and the fearless times we’ve leaned into our values to learn who we are and what we’re made of. For those experiences — each of them — I am truly grateful.
I would not be who I am without the people, places, times and lessons learned. For each of you who play an important part of my journey, Thank You!
What are you celebrating today?
