Donna: Today is my 39th birthday. And it feels significant being that it's my last year of my thirties. I usually on the podcast, I talk about business related stuff, but I'm going to do it differently today. It's my birthday. So bugger it. I'm going to talk about birthdays. I'm going to talk about honouring ourselves as the amazing women that we are and putting ourselves first.
And although I do believe that this should be an everyday practice. If it takes a birthday for you to do this, then you'll be glad that you listened to this podcast.
I've been thinking about how our attitude to birthdays often changes as we get older. Some people are fearful of birthdays and fearful of feeling old. And that kind of saddens me a bit, I've got to say, because you know, getting old is actually something that some people don't get to do. But I still have to remind myself sometimes.
I don't know if you do this too. I got to remind myself that I'm not in my twenties anymore, even though on the inside. Sometimes that's how I feel. But more commonly as we get older, do we really celebrate our birthday or do we allow everyday life to distract us from being present and putting ourselves first on our special day.
As a kid when we children what a question, whether we have time or money to celebrate, or if we're worthy of feeling loved and special one hour birthday, or if a family and friends might be too busy to get together, or if we should receive gifts or if we should just keep our birthday altogether. Instead, if we look at how our kids celebrate birthdays, they approach each birthday with absolute excitement and anticipation of how fun and special they know would be.
As I've grown older. My love for birthdays has deepened into a celebration really of life itself and the start of a new cycle. It's an opportunity to reflect and to be grateful for everything that I have and all that I'm working towards. And the joy that comes from connecting with family and friends on that day.
We have a joke in our family that my birthday goes for the whole month, not just the day. And honestly, that has been true. I have nuked my birthday for as much as I can get out of it. In saying that that was mostly before we had kids and yeah, I do still try and stretch it out if I can even, so over the past couple of years, I am noticing that I'm placing less importance on celebrating my birthday and I don't really make it a priority until like the last minute.
So I found myself kind of making excuses like, oh, I don't want to spend the money or would you busy? Or I don't have time. And you know, even when my hubby asks, what do you want for you birthday?? I'm like, oh, I don't know. I'm pretty grateful for what I've got. I don't really need anything. I don't really know.
Whereas I used to have, like, a list, I was ready to go with, with what I wanted for my birthday. So although I love my birthday and I don't mind getting older, I have been downplaying it more than I normally would. And I noticed that it's a common trend in hectic, modern life for grownups to de prioritize and to play down their own birthday, which is, yeah, it's a shame because for this one day, You get to have a day that's dedicated just to you.
And we're really missing out on an exciting opportunity to bring more love and joy into our life on that day. So if you struggle with celebrating your birthday every year, just for fun, here are a couple of reasons why I reckon you should celebrate your birthday and also what to do. If you're not feeling.
So my number one is all about self worth. The day that you were born is a very special day and one that should be recognized and celebrated. You, my friend are a big deal. Do the world a favor, owning your awesomeness and know that you are loved and worthy and important enough to celebrate you. A week is even better than a day.
You can go out and claim the whole month as your month. My second thing is gratitude. Getting all that. It really is a privilege and an honor, not everyone is so lucky to grow old. So be grateful for that in and of itself, and also be grateful for all that you are yet to experience. And you'll instantly feel better about getting a year older life, really easy gift, and we should be really appreciative of that.
The other thing that's important to take notice of when it's your birthday is that it's the dawn of a new cycle. It's a chance to refresh your body and your mind and your soul. As you celebrate another trip around the sun. But those are also another time for reflection. So it's a wonderful time where you can reflect on your life and make a plan for the future.
If you're unhappy with where you are at at the moment, or you're scared about getting older, now's the time to make a plan to change it, to adjust your mindset, to shift your perspective, to get clear on your priorities and maybe set some goals for the year ahead and start making positive changes in your life.
The fifth thing I want to share is love. You are worthy and special and loved. And on this one day, that is your birthday. Enjoy it. And soak it up this day is a celebration of you. And if it makes you uncomfortable, maybe let this be the catalyst to embark upon a beautiful journey of self love. The other thing I love about birthdays is it's an opportunity for connection.
It's a wonderful time to appreciate all the beautiful people in your life and how blessed you are to have them around you. It may also be the time of the year that you can get them all together in one place for some fun. And remember too, that the special people in your life they want to celebrate with you.
So why not throw a party perfect time to throw a party. Now taking guilt-free pleasure in modern, busy everyday life when we're fast paced and it's demanding, and it can be a really tricky time to step out from what's going on in your life. It's busy, it's fast paced. We all experienced this, but your birthday is an opportunity to put yourself first.
It's an opportunity to guilt-free. Make sure you're relaxing. Make sure you're unwinding and doing whatever makes you feel good. The last thing I want to share is about gifts, right? It's fun to give and receive gifts. And whilst I personally wouldn't really be concerned if I didn't receive any gifts, it's always special when someone takes the time and the effort to give you a gift or a card.
And it's also fun to receive those things. I personally don't really. I don't really get it when people can't find the joy and the meaning in their own birthdays. But I can appreciate that sometimes it can be difficult to celebrate your birthday. Maybe there has been a recent, something recent that's happened to you or happened within your family.
That kind of makes it feel like celebrating right now, isn't the right thing to do. So when stuff like that happens, It can still be important just to acknowledge that you are still special, regardless of whatever is going on with your life and arranging to catch up with special people in your life to celebrate with you.
It's important to, so don't turn down invitations because you're too busy or you don't feel like celebrating. Just take the moment to enjoy those phone calls, those emails, those texts, even messages on social media.
Celebrating your birthday, really isn't your thing. At least make a list of all the things that you're grateful for and reflect on it.
And I feel it. And even if it feels a little bit forced to start with. By doing this, it will lift your energy and hopefully make you feel really good about your day. Now. That's really it for me today. I haven't got much more to share with you. That's my 39 years of birthday wisdom for you. But my main message here that I, that I want you to take away from this podcast is that you are wonderful just as you are right now in all your imperfection, as old as you may be.
It doesn't matter. Just allow yourself to be celebrating. Maybe don't wait until it's your birthday to do that. Take every day to celebrate who you are, because you're pretty amazing. We all are every single person on this planet. And with that, I'm going to sign off and I'm going to go celebrate me and my awesomeness because I can, and I'm going to spend the day, I think, planning what I'm going to do for my 40th birthday next year.
I'm kind of hoping that I'll be able to spend it overseas somewhere, maybe poolside with cocktail, maybe on a beautiful island or something like that. If you know, if some way like that, that's relatively close to Australia, then please, send me a DM, let me know of this wonderful place that I can adventure to for my 40th.
And let me know. What's your favourite way that you choose to celebrate your birthday, thanks for listening and catch you next time.
