97 - Celebrating while reflecting on the things
Birthday season reflections
I’m a birthday person. I always have been. I was the child who would start reminding everyone about her birthday weeks in advance and I’ve grown into an adult who still does this and even makes a wishlist to boot.
I want to say I’m not sure where it comes from but I just remembered my father dressing up and sending us photos on his birthday a couple of months ago so I guess I have my answer. My Dad always made a fuss about our birthdays growing up. We didn’t have many big birthday parties but every birthday was marked. Typically he would buy suya and we’d sit around the table and share a bottle of non-alcoholic wine and toast to the celebrant. It was something to look forward to.
As I’ve gotten older, birthday season has remained a time to look forward to and it has also become a time of reflection. In my late twenties, I remember getting less excited about my birthday because it started to feel like a reminder of all the things I had yet to accomplish. I had all these ideas of what I thought my life ought to look like at a certain age and I would spend a lot of time dwelling on all the things that had not quite worked out according to my ideas.
It wasn’t until my 33rd birthday that I started to reflect differently about my birthday. It was the first time in my adult life when I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be and as long as I continued working on the things, things would work themselves out eventually.
In the years since my focus has shifted massively. Now as my birthday approaches, I think about how far I’ve come. All the things I have managed to achieve with the resources available to me. All the little things that make my life so much richer. All the love I’m surrounded by, and I couldn’t be more grateful.
The celebrations already started last weekend and even though there are parts I can not remember, I can definitely tell you a fun time was had. Plans are already underway for the coming weekend.
There is no moral of the story this week. This week I’m just a girl-woman who is grateful for the life she’s designing for herself and excited to celebrate another trip around the sun.
Here’s reminding you to take the time and make the effort to celebrate yourself because you sef don try.
Chioma.