Anyone who knows me, knows I make an incredibly big deal about birthdays. My entire life, I’ve made these days special for myself, my family and friends whenever and wherever possible. From decorating friends desks in grade school, lockers in high school, cars in college, to now planning surprise parties, hosting parties and making sure every one feels extra special on their day, one way or another. I’ll admit it, I love birthdays! It’s the one day a year that is all about you and you can enjoy life, carefree.

So many times I come across people who don’t enjoy their day, and tell me “who cares it’s just another day, no need to celebrate.” UGH. I welcome these comments as a personal challenge, as I have no idea how everyone can’t experience the excitement that I feel. I wonder who taught them that it’s a normal day, and why don’t they take time to feel a little bit special and enjoy themselves? These people motivate me to make birthdays even more special for the ones I love, as they have me in their corner to help make their birthday a little more sparkly.

Why else do I see importance in birthdays? For me, I compare April 11th (my day), to the New Year. In recent years, as I’ve grown more into womanhood, I’ve decided to look at the new birth year as an opportunity to keep moving forward and challenge myself to reach another goal or aspiration that I’ve been vying for. When I turned 25,  I knew I wanted to start a website and inspire others to be their best self. Having begun this process, how can I take it a step further? What is going to take me to the place I’ve been dying to go? This is still the exciting, challenging part when I look ahead to year 29– “where will I go next?”

The new birth year, much like the turn of the year on Dec 31st, allows us to reflect on what happened over the last year: things we’re happy about, not so happy about, successes, failures, steps forward, steps backwards, new relationships, letting go of old relationships… everything.

Your birthday is an amazing opportunity for progress! When it is your birthday, take time to truly reflect and see what you’re thankful for in your life and what you deeply wish for in the next year to come. Whether it’s a separate moment throughout your day when you stop and breathe for a few minutes, or laying in bed at night, you deserve to take in the special moments of your day and feel good. We all deserve it.

To the amazing people in my life who believe in birthdays, and helped to make 29 amazing already, I love you more than you know and appreciate your faith and commitment to birthdays. Having all of you in my life makes me thankful for all that I have, and all the fabulous friendships I have in you.

Happy Birthday, to me. :]

Cheers,
Aurora