Wednesday, March 28, 2012

The Gift of a Birthday

Birthdays have always seemed sacred to me.
For one reason or another, the ritual of aging often brings a great deal of emotion, expectation, and trepidation for many of us. This may be because our culture values both youthfulness and wisdom simultaneously, so these cultural polarities can evoke deep reactions from within us related to the many levels of our identity, as well as our perceived place in our world.

My birthday was this week. With the coming and going of my sacred day of transition I became aware of the many facets of the experiences encapsulated in this journey I call "life." With so much to be grateful for, along with such hope and opportunity for growth, I was aware of my own perceptions of what a birthday means to me.
This is what I came up with:

-Each birthday is a rite of passage that allows me to move forward in a measurable way on my life journey.
-A birthday is an opportunity to celebrate myself! One day exclusively (in my world, anyway) about me!
-A birthday is a day to accept love from others.
-A birthday is a day to give thanks to Mom and Dad for bringing me into this world.
-A birthday is a day to reflect on birthdays past, lessons learned, and growth achieved.
-A birthday is a day to envision days yet to come, and to set intentions for goals, desires, and ideas about the future.
-A birthday is a day to express gratitude.
-A birthday is a gift that reminds us that we are ALIVE in this world. That we are a part of this beautiful, complicated, exquisite life on this Earth...and that we have a part to play in this existence.

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