Reasons to celebrate.

My friends and family know I’m not big on birthday celebrations. As long as I receive a text message from people who have my phone number I’m a happy camper. This year, however, I tried to adopt a different approach. Instead of being indifferent to punctuating another year, I decided I wanted to celebrate.

That’s because I realized my birthday isn’t really about me. It’s about all the people who helped me get here, to this exact point in my life. When I think about what I want to celebrate, it’s not me. I’m not so great that I need a day where people make me feel special because I’m really fortunate in that I have people who frequently make me feel special and accomplished.

To all of those people I want to say, “Thank you.” And while there are so many people I want to thank personally, I need to call out a few here:

To my husband, thank you for always, unwaveringly having my back and championing my ability and my dreams. Knowing I have you steadfastly in my corner empowers me to take chances and dream big.

To my parents, thank you for almost forty years of unconditional love, emotional support, and life lessons. Thank you for being nonjudgemental and always believing I was capable of achieving whatever I set my mind to.

To my brother, thanks for being my best friend. And for finding an awesome wife. And for having really cute kids.

To my Hoboken friends, thank you for all the memories. Every time I see you, text with you, speak with you, it feeds my soul.

To my summer friends, you were my first loves. I cherish the funny, embarrassing, ridiculous stories we share. I am so grateful for the summers we spent together as they shaped the person I am today in the same way the ocean shapes the shoreline (how’s that for cheesy?).

To my new Austin friends, thanks for making moving halfway across the country less lonely and for helping me create new memories.

With the family, friends, clients, and colleagues I’m lucky enough to have in my life, I have a lot to celebrate.

So thank you all for making my life pretty awesome. I’m extremely grateful and it’s because of you I’m looking forward to another year.

PS – I’m also deeply grateful for my health and mobility, especially as I acknowledge another trip around the sun. But that’s another post for another day.

 

Photo by Sergio Solo on unsplash.