Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE my birthday, Always have, always will. I am not one of those people that looks at my birthday as “Ugh, another year” or “Ugh, getting old stinks”. I look at it as a chance to celebrate yourself.
I haven’t worked on my actual birthday in over ten years. I take the day off. I go to yoga, schedule a massage, make lunch plans (which we all can do more of instead of sitting at our desks and working thru lunch). I make sure I do something different/special for dinner. I love having the day off! I love treating it like a special day, because it should be!
I hear way too often from people my age or older say “Oh, wait til you get to be my age. Wait til you get older. You just wait!” The reality of it is I am turning 43 and I feel better now than I have my whole life! I feel better than I did at 23 and 33. I feel better than I did at 42, thanks to intermittent fasting which has changed my life! I will never go back to my old way of eating! Since fasting, I have more energy, sleep better and feel SO SO good.
Anyway, next time your birthday rolls around, instead of getting stressed about it or looking at it as another year older, look at it as a gift. A gift to yourself. Think about how you want to spend your day. Do you want to spend like you do every other day of the year? I don’t think so. Take the day off, even if you spend the whole day by yourself. Celebrate it. Celebrate you. You deserve it!
Since each day is a gift, let’s look at our birthdays as a benchmark that we made it to the next one, right? 44 isn’t guaranteed, but I can sure as heck make a conscious effort to be sure that 43 is my best year yet.
We had a newbie come to the studio this week. In talking to him after class about a whole bunch of different topics, I asked what brought him to power yoga. He said his father-in-law has been practicing yoga for years. He’s in his 70s and SURFS in Hawaii for 2 weeks every year with his grandkids! He gives ALL the credit to his consistent yoga practice! How awesome it that?!?!?!?!
I was totally meant to hear that story. Knowing how much my family and I love surfing, especially in Costa Rica, I can see us being the same way when our son has kids. He’s only 13 now but we will make it happen! I believe it has to do with moving your body, a growth mindset, eating healthy and just taking care of yourself. Do just that and your life will be full and happy no matter what your age!
I want my 70th birthday to be just as special as any other one. Start the day off with yoga, get a massage, have a yummy lunch and maybe, just maybe, seal off the special day with a surf session!
Namaste.
