Birthdays

Birthdays are like your own personal national holiday: the one day a year when people acknowledge your importance to them. All birthdays are special, even the nondescript ones like when you turn 23 or 51 or 72.

Tomorrow is my birthday, my 72nd birthday. I share this birthday with Martin Luther King, and I’m honored by this fact. It’s also Pitbull, the pop Latin performer’s birthday, as well as Drew Brees, the football player and Regina King, the actress. Kinda cool.

As we age, our birthdays tend to fall away into oblivion. We don’t need anything, we’re not that interested in partying or staying up late eating rich food and drinking … so we let them slide. Unless, of course, it’s one of the big ones, one that many people never get to celebrate like 75 or 90 or 100. These are more monumental and acknowledgement must be paid.

Even though it’s not one of my monumental birthdays tomorrow, it’s always good to acknowledge another year of life on this earth. It’s good to remember what got us here — the good, the bad, and the ugly — and what we need to propel us forward into the time we have ahead, be that short or long. Practically, I’ve been reviewing my money situation and making sure there’s enough to support my lifestyle for decades. On the emotional side, I’ve been seeing the change, the hard shift away from drama, angst, and negativity. Yes, my life is getting smaller, but it’s by my choosing, and I feel content. It takes less to entertain me and to fill me up. For this, I am grateful.

You don’t need a birthday to take stock and recalibrate. What do you need today and what do you need in the future to feel each birthday is a blessing?