Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. - Phil. 4:4

"Live long and prosper." —Mr. Spock

I am turning 35! September 5th (two days from now) is my birthday. I love my birthday! I do my best to actually celebrate all month long. It honestly was not always this way. I have been on all the different sides of the birthday issue. There have been times when I hated my birthday, cried over my birthday, ignored my birthday, loved my birthday and been wildly confused by the passing of time. So, I get it!

No matter where you are… whether you love your birthday, or you strongly dislike your birthday… My hope is that in this blog, you will find some ideas for how to mark your birthday as an important day, and how to use it to impact the rest of your day! 

WHY BIRTHDAYS CAN BE WONDERFUL

"Please don't retouch my wrinkles. It took me so long to earn them." —Anna Magnani

I may have been one of those over dramatic teenagers and twenty-somethings who felt melodramatic about their birthday. I may have wept over each birthday as I realized that I still hadn’t gotten my letter from Hogwarts, I never went through the wardrobe, and Peter Pan didn’t show up at my window. (If you are a millennial, you get it.)

 Now looking back at this, I can laugh at my sweet heart that did not know how to deal with the disappointment of life. I know that I was struggling with trying to understand how time worked, and what it meant that time was passing. So all I could do was weep over the passing of time and worry about how I might be missing out. (Major FOMO vibes.)

This all really changed when my daughters were born! I often still find myself grieving the passing of time. Yet, I also find such beauty and joy in watching them grow. This has given me more understanding and grace for my own birthdays. I think I also found that I really want them to enjoy their birthday! So I want to model that attitude and joy.

If you struggle with your birthdays, I completely understand. May I suggest that when you are ready for a change, you look for reasons to love your birthday. Maybe it’s finding a way to celebrate that brings you joy! Or looking for someone that gives you reasons to love the day. Those people who do love you, or who are looking up to you. If you look for ways to celebrate your birthday, I truly believe that you will find them! If you already love your birthday, please share your best ideas with all of us! Remember that age is just a number, your birthday is just a celebration of all the ways that you have lived. 

BIRTHDAY PLANS

Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Relent, LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. - Ps. 90:12-14

I have been working over the past decade to create a birthday rhythm that best fits the ways I want to celebrate and reflect. I have tried such a wide variety of things! So now I can share exactly what I do with you. Please take the things that work for you and leave the rest.

• Before your birthday! Make sure that at least a month before your birthday you are making a plan. Put things on the calendar, chat with the people who will be involved, and look over what you want.
• Celebrate! Mark out a way to celebrate. I like to have some celebrations on my actual birthday. Usually this is just with my immediate family, my husband and kids. I like to choose a restaurant I want to go to or maybe something I really want to do (like see a movie, or go on an adventure). I also like to do bigger things for big birthdays, specifically planning trips for birthdays like decade markers or ones that feel extra important.
• Day Alone. This is the one habit that has really made a difference for me! I really need a whole day away. Having a whole day to myself gives me the space that I actually need to reflect and dream. Without that whole day, I don’t feel like I have the ability to wrap my mind around my whole life.
• Reflection and Dreams. I have worked to create a process for my birthday that helps me think through all the ways that I want to reflect and dream. It’s not something that I have to recreate every year. More about this below.
• Creativity. I love to look at my birthday as a chance to be creative with my life! I can look for things that I want to try, for ways to build new habits, or to do something extra special. How can you be creative in your life?

STRATEGIES FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years." —Abraham Lincoln

Do you wish you had a process to reflect and dream? A list of exact steps, so that you don’t have to come up with something. I got you! Here is what I do for my day alone that I take on my birthday.

1. Take extra good care of yourself that morning - sleep well, take a shower, get ready.
2. Choose your favorite coffee shop or location (I like Botanic Gardens for something special!)
3. Get a delicious drink or yummy treat and choose a good location to sit.
4. Start with soul decluttering - journal out everything that is in your brain. Set a timer if you want.
5. List out a few things - what you are grateful for, what you are praying for, and what you can celebrate for this past year.
6. Reflect on what worked really well this past year, and what didn’t work well at all.
7. Audit your calendar. Look over where you spent your time this past year. 
8. Review goals from the past year, make goals for the next year. Then schedule out how you will work on these goals this next year.
9. If you like doing a word for your year, pray and reflect about that. 
10. Check in on your priorities. Are you spending your time on the things you want to prioritize?
11. Look over your calendar for the next year. Schedule in the big things - vacations, travel, goal work, work schedule, family things, so on.
12. Spend some time dreaming about what you might want to do this year, see how you can add it to your calendar. If it’s not in the calendar, it probably won’t happen.
13. Read or listen to something encouraging or that matches your goals for this year. 
14. Do something creative that you enjoy. 
15. End with setting up your next actionable steps for your best year yet!

BIRTHDAY SALE

"To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all." ―Oscar Wilde

Since it is my birthday, I want to mark it by offering you a gift! So we are setting up a sale, specifically for my birthday!!

For this whole week, you can get 25% off your whole order, if you spend $35 or more. 

So if you have been dreaming about buying something special from our store, please go get it! I am so happy to be sharing this sale with you. I love so many of our products and I hope you can find something wonderful. 

WHAT’S NEXT

"The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched… they must be felt with the heart." —Helen Keller

For this next year, I am hoping for so many good things! I am praying for new adventures, for time to write, for new goals to be reached, and for God to use me in so many ways. Thank you for being here with me!

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. - Phil. 4:4

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; - Ecclesiastes 3:1-4

Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! - Ps. 95:2

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION

"Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think." —A.A. Milne

1. How can you celebrate your birthday this year?
2. When can you schedule a regular time to get away, specifically to reflect and dream about your life?
3. Where is God guiding you to make some changes in your life?
4. How can you help the people around you feel celebrated and valued on their birthday, or on any random day?
5. What is one thing from this blog that you want to put into practice in your life?