Celebrating Another Day, Another Year!

Birthdays...a celebration to let the world know we have survived another 365 days. How anxiously we awaited them when we were young...counting down the days from 4  and a half to 5! Party hats, balloons, cakes with candles and presents!

Then the adolescent milestones...becoming old enough to date, stay out until midnight, get your learners permit, then your license, registering to vote and finally 21!! Arrival into the world of adults! 

 

But after 21, birthdays  seem less significant somehow. Adulthood also ushers us into the world of responsibility, work and often the less exciting and more mundane part of our life. We no longer count the days...I've never heard an adult claim to be 34 and a half! We celebrate the day but tend to refer to the decade. He's in his thirties, or forties or fifties...

But after a certain age, birthdays again become more important. Perhaps like poet Andrew Marvell wrote, "But at my back I always hear Time's winged chariot hurrying near;" When we realize we have probably had more birthdays in the past than we are likely to celebrate in the future..each one again becomes special! Like when they were children, elderly folks are liable to tell someone who asks, "I'm 86 and a half!" proud to have reached such an auspicious milestone!

Tim McGraw's Grammy Award winning song tells us to Live Like you Were Dying. Although this was written for his dad, Tug McGraw, It is a good suggestion for all of us...young or old, healthy or sick, because the most certain you can be about anything in life is that someday it will end. 

Celebrate, not just your birthday, but every day! Don't pass up the opportunity to tell someone you are glad they are in your life and that you love them...Smile, hug, dance, celebrate!