Happy Birthday Or Unhappy Birthday? You Decide.

Have you noticed how much smarter and wiser and put together I am since last week? I know, it is so obvious, right? That's what happens when you have a birthday :-)
This past Sunday was my birthday. That's right I'm a Saint Patrick's Day baby. I turned the big 33 and had a good time celebrating it. I will never understand how people can hate their birthday. Every year is a blessing to be appreciative of and thankful for.
If you want to have a more joyful life, if you are Chasing Joy, then you will have to make some decisions. You will have to decide how you are going to look at things. Is your cup half empty or half full. You will have to decide to look for reasons to be happy and reasons to celebrate.
If we are lucky/blessed each year we have a birthday. The same time every year. Each year you get to decide how you will look at the milestone. I could pull out the short essay I wrote when I was 15 about how my life would be in 15 years and count the multiple ways my current life does not match up. I could look at the lives of my friends who have spouses and children and calculate how lonely my life is. I could look at my bank account and figure out to the penny exactly how far I am from being the millionaire I'd imagined I'd be by 33. But what would be the point of doing any of the above.
Now I'd be lying if I said I never think about any of these things. But, I make an effort, especially at the time of my birthday, to let these thoughts pass. The thoughts that I hold on to are thoughts of how blessed I am to see another year. Thoughts of how special birthdays are in that they are all about all about you the birthday girl (or boy). Thoughts of how birthdays provide a great excuse to do something fun, to celebrate.
That is exactly what I did this year. I treated myself like I was special. I went to the spa for a facial, out to dinner with my mom and with new friends, I had brunch with the girls and topped it off with wine, cake, and paint. With all of the celebrating there was no time to be depressed or sad about getting a year older.
Now a couple days later it's back to business as usual. While it would be cool to instantly be wiser, smarter, and more put together upon having a birthday. That just is not the case. I feel the same as I did when I was 32. Nothing changes upon just because you have a birthday. Even more reason to not view it in any negative way.
So now it is time for you to make a decision. Your birthday is coming up (some sooner than others). How will you view it? Will you decide to focus on the blessing of another year and the excuse to celebrate and have some fun?
But before you answer look at all the fun I had.

Happy Birthday or Unhappy Birthday? You Decide.