As my twentieth birthday slowly approaches, I have realized how much I enjoy reflecting on all my past birthdays. I have always loved celebrating not only my birthday, but the birthdays of those I love, and have tried to make those days special for those being celebrated. However, as I have gotten older, I have realized how little people like to celebrate their birthdays.
While this never has really made sense to me, because birthdays in my family have always been super special, I have realized that birthdays come with the fear of getting older. I know how scary the concept of getting older is, but I prefer to look at it in a more positive light: Life is all about getting older. There’s nothing you can do to stop it, no matter how hard you try. Embracing the idea of aging is something I have slowly learned to do, and ultimately, it has changed my life for the better.
I have always loved my birthdays. I grew up so fortunate to have a family that celebrated me. They would wake me up with my favorite breakfast, line the hallway outside my bedroom with balloons, and have fun-filled parties with endless cake. I never even had the room to be upset about my birthday. I felt so lucky that I was able to make it another year and fortunate to be around those who love me that I couldn’t imagine being fearful of such a celebrated day.
However, getting older is scary. It’s foreign and unexplored, and you go in entirely blind. While it’s exciting to have these fun-filled days that celebrate you making it through another year, it simultaneously holds a lot of pressure to make sure the upcoming year better than the last. There are a few things I like to do in preparation for my birthday each year, and I believe it has made the concept of aging a little less frightening.
First, I like to set goals for myself for the next year. I ask myself: “what do I want to accomplish as a 20 year-old that I haven’t accomplished before?” This question allows me to be excited about all the things I have ahead of me. It helps me be excited to see the outcome of the next year, and prepare myself for the challenges ahead.
Second, I celebrate big with those I love. I know it sounds cheesy, and maybe a little childish, but there’s nothing I love more than a birthday party. I love being surrounded by all my closest friends and family, getting dressed up, eating my favorite food, and celebrating life. I also find that these celebrations distract me from the depth of aging and lighten up the day.
I also allow myself the time to reflect on the last year of my life. I contemplate what I wish I would’ve done differently, I evaluate my routines over the past year and how I can improve them, and I allow myself to deeply assess who has a positive affect on my growth and who does not. I think taking a second to be reflective slows down time a little and makes me feel a bit better. The most important part of this reflection is examining those in my life that positively and negatively impact on my growth. I am trying to get better at eliminating those with a negative impact because I do not want to waste my potential.
You deserve to be celebrated. Using your birthday as an excuse to grow your self love and be showered with appreciation should be encouraged. I know growing up is scary, trust me, but if there’s nothing we can do to stop it, we must embrace it. We must enter our birthdays with open arms and open minds to prepare ourselves to encounter the year ahead of us.