Today is my birthday.
And for the last … many … birthdays this is the mantra I have used to start “my” new year:
To me, it epitomizes how I want to start my birthday each year. I begin as I mean to go on. I don’t make the day very “special” – I have never been one for parties or celebrations. (Oh, the time I had a surprise party that everyone thought I would love. It was… torture. I really dislike being surprised, and being the center of attention. You can see why a surprise party was not exactly how I wanted to spend my birthday!)
So today, I went to the gym. I came to work and I am going to work hard. I am going to see my husband and his family tomorrow for dinner. But that’s it. Nothing special. I try not to tell people about it – I never mention it at work, and I don’t expect people to “celebrate” me.
Instead, I want to be sure that I am living the life I want to live. That how I am spending my days is how I want to spend my life. (Thank you, Annie Dillard.)
Some years, I have time for a personal retreat to align my intent with my purpose and values, and figure out how I want to live that out in the next year. Not this year – it’s a busy time, with the academic year starting next week.
But I will take some time for reflection this weekend – not a retreat, just a… review, perhaps.
And tonight, well, tonight I might just have an extra bit of peanut butter ripple ice cream. Because, you know, another year on this planet is nothing to sneeze at.