Birthday Reflection

 

Reflection.

As my 26th birthday approached, I started to get increasingly whiny about the fact that I was getting another year older.  Last year I became old enough to rent a car, and that was a bit of a stretch, as far as reasons to celebrate go.  As the birthday approached, B finally said, “Please, do not be one of those people.” One of those people?  Oh. You mean one of those people that are obsessed with youth?  Those people that celebrate turning 28 years old for 7 years? Those people that recount their glory days with eyes full of longing. He was right.  I didn’t want to be one of those people, but that’s the direction I was heading.

Several years ago, a friend of my father-in-law was over at my in-law’s house to show his condolences for a death in the family.  While he was there, I overheard him say a variation of the quote above.  At the time I don’t think I really even understood how profound it truly was, but regardless it stuck with me.  The older I get, the more I look around and see people frantically grasping at the threads of their youth.  It’s not  really all that  surprising.  In our society youth is the most highly sought after attribute.  For women especially, we are constantly bombarded with thousands of  different ways to look younger.   Aspiring to maintain a youthful appearance is one thing, but have you ever seen people who continue to age, but never seem to actually grow?  I have, and it makes me cringe.  My younger years were great for what they were.  I was far more carefree and impulsive, but much of what I did was for the purpose of public perception.

I hope you do not equate the word youth to mean “having fun” and wise as meaning  acting “too seriously.”  That is not at all what I mean, so I should probably clarify. Wisdom to me means gaining a greater understanding of ourselves, of others,  of nature, of what we value most in this world.  It means finding and nurturing genuine connections.  It means realizing how short our life on this earth truly is, and choosing to live the life that we want to live, and not a life that we feel like we should.  It means being who you are, doing what you enjoy, with the people you appreciate, and trying your best not to impact  the rights of others to do the same. It means seeing each day as an opportunity, and being in tune with your thoughts so that when things don’t feel right,  you can learn to make different choices to avoid unwarranted suffering.  It means gaining an understanding and appreciation of the fact that every day brings subtle changes to everything and everyone, and learning to accept that nothing on this earth remains the same forever; is a really powerful thing.  I hope to always maintain the zest for life that I cultivated during my  youth, but also aspire to gain wisdom with each passing year.

Birthday Recap.

My birthday was pretty great.  I said goodbye to the little town that I’ve commuted to for the past two years, which was bittersweet.  B and I rented $5 bikes and went on a really long bike ride, he took me to breakfast, and then surprised me with far too many gifts,  I went to the gym for the first time in a long time & the gym was totally empty (a birthday miracle), we shared a bottle of wine and an amazing meal on the patio at one of my favorite restaurants, and then we walked a few blocks to another outdoor patio where we met up with my favorite Nebraska people. My friends and family showered me with the kindest words and completely unnecessary, but extremely thoughtful gifts.  Like the amazing Etsy typewriter picture that my friend, Staci, got me (pictured below), which inspired me to break out my sewing machine and dabble with some new headbands (also pictured below).  All in all, it has been a really good past few days.

DC BOUND

We will soon be heading to the DC area for our “house hunting” trip.  My amazing type-A husband has scheduled over 20 apartment visits.  The information for each is nicely organized in a binder with a rating scale for each place that we will complete immediately following each tour.  It’s going to be a bit of a whirlwind.  I’m just looking forward to taking in the scenery and the vibe of each little section of the city that we see.

So much is up in the air for this next year of my life.  I’m equal parts excited and terrified.  We do not yet know where we will be living, where I will be working, or what life will be like there.  It’s going to  be quite the adventure!

I’ll check back soon, but in the meantime….

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Ends June 4th!!