Yesterday was my birthday which I mention the day after because then there is no need for you to feel compelled to call me or send an email or message on Facebook. Of course large monetary gifts that have not yet arrived in the mail will still be gladly accepted.

IS YOUR BIRTHDAY A FEDERAL HOLIDAY?

How we view our birthday varies greatly from person to person based on many factors. There are those who truly believe their birthday should be a federal holiday and they begin the countdown weeks prior. They drop not-so-subtle hints about what they want and would like to do like you really care…I’m not talking about family members but people that you wouldn’t even bother to buy a card for. Can they be that caught up in themselves that they think others feel the same way? I guess tragically the answer is yes which is somewhat sad.

Of course on the other end of the spectrum you have those like me who don’t make much of birthdays for the simple reason that getting older is nothing to celebrate. Sorry but I don’t care if 60 is the new 40 and 50 is the new 30 or whatever those numbers say.

BIRTHDAYS ARE JUST NUMBERS AS YOU GET OLDER

The bottom line is once you get past a certain age there is nothing really to look forward to unless you can retire at 55 or are waiting for your first Social Security check at 62. Even then it’s a reward for getting older which I and we don’t really want. When you think about it you only want to get older when you’re younger and that’s because you can’t wait for your driver’s license at 17 and first legal drink at age 21. After that birthdays just become numbers and before you know it you start dealing with a mini-crisis as you get to 30, 40, 50 and beyond.

I guess the other part about how you view your birthday is to take a good look at yourself on that day. Do you look and feel good for your age?….are you happy where you are at that point in your life?….are you optimistic about the future?

Actually that just depressed me even more.

Look here is the bottom line. On my 56th birthday I put in a 16 hour day, barely even saw my wife and did nothing that made the day special. But I did open some cards, get a goof present from co-workers, won $15 from scratch-off lottery tickets and received 213 birthday wishes on Facebook. Thanks to those of you who sent email messages…hopefully by my 57th birthday I’ll figure out how to open them.

 

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