It’s my birthday today!  To be very honest, I’m not a huge birthday person.  I love celebrating other people’s birthdays.  But my own?  Don’t care all that much.  To me, today is more about my parents.  It’s the day their lives changed completely 36 years ago.  To that point, Kaiden’s birthday is a HUGE deal to me for that very reason.  It’s the day I became a mom! 

Anyways, enough of that!  Despite not really wanting to make a big deal out of it, my sister made me a cake (she’s the sweetest!), her and my BIL are watching K tonight, and Vishnu’s taking me out to dinner.  Now that I think about, I can get behind this kind of celebrating!

Something I do find myself doing a lot around this time every year is reflecting on who I was, who I am, and who I will be.  I also love thinking about all the lessons I’ve learned over the years.  Things I try and beat into anyone who’s younger than me!

With that, I thought I’d share 6 of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in the past 36 years.  Let’s do this…birthday style!

1. It’s so so cliché yet so so true.  Love yourself completely.  The good, the ‘bad,’ the things you want to change, you mind, your body.  All of it.  After years of feeling like I wasn’t good enough, pretty enough, skinny enough, smart enough, etc., I can tell you without a doubt that if you start to look at yourself in the best possible light and remain gentle going forward, everything will change.  Loving yourself isn’t selfish.  It’s an investment into the wellbeing and joy of everyone around you.  While you’ll reap most of the benefits, they’ll be the recipients of the dividends from your newfound happiness.
2. Travel.  Whenever you can.  Wherever you can.  Make it a habit.  This is something I had done more with my friends and Vishnu.  I mean, we’ve travelled to some cool places, but I have no doubt we could’ve done more.  There are so many benefits to stepping outside your comfort zone and into another culture and way of living.  Just do it!
3. If there’s something in your heart you want to try, DO IT!  You only have now.  There are no promises for what tomorrow brings.  Stop overthinking it and take a small step.  And then do it again and again and again, until you’ve done the damn thing!
4. People come and people go.  That’s ok.  Not everyone is meant to stay in your life forever.  Also, you can’t be everything to everyone.  Try and keep those around who you feel the most you with.
5. There’s no such thing as perfect. It’s all in the eye of the beholder.  So, don’t strive for perfection because it’s impossible.  Strive to be a little different every day.  We’re all works in progress.  Take it one day at a time!
6. Don’t sweat the small stuff.  None of it really matters in the long run.  Learn to spend your energy on the things and people who truly matter to you.  Think about it this way. The amount of energy you get every day is finite.  If you spend the majority of it on the little things, you won’t have any left for the big things you want to accomplish, the people who need a bit of your energy, and most importantly…you!  Remember to save a little for yourself every day!  Stay focused on what’s really important!

That’s all she wrote!  Thanks for reading. 😊