Age is an attitude

It is my birthday today.

And I love birthdays. Especially my own because I am happy to be here and so of course I celebrate the day I came to be. It is a day of being grateful for the lessons I have learned, the people I have met and the experiences I have had in the year past.

Am I supposed to be here?

Now maybe it is because I almost did not make it here. It has been a joke in the family, that I was not supposed to be here… not really a good joke but perhaps it was the way we could make fun of all the past traumas. Sometimes we said I had nine lives and I have not used them up yet, that kept us feeling lucky and believing that I would continue to make it (I still do). The story is that I almost died at birth. Then again at 3 years old (near-drowning accident) and again at 6 years old (car crash). A few times since there have been some lucky close calls I think, but let’s not count. Let’s instead talk about appreciation.

I appreciate…

I appreciate my age, I actually love my age. I am 54 today and I find that the more I notice the small changes in my body, the greying of my hair, the fact that I get headaches when I have a glass of wine or piece of chocolate (yes it is also annoying because I love those things), that I am a bit more stiff in the morning and don’t feel like doing yoga first thing like I used to, the fact that I do get tired at night before 11 pm, and that I need more quiet time than I used to… I can go on, but all of those small messages from my body I appreciate, because it reminds me that my body needs me more and more now. I have needed, and used and even abused by body over the years. Being a gymnast from I was 6 years old and until I was 18 is hard on the body and my lower back is a gentle (and often painful) reminder that my body used to do flip-flops.

But I don’t expect…

I don’t expect of my body to do what it could when I was a teenager, or in my 20’s or even my 30’s. I look at my body today and say; “what do you need from me so you can stay healthy as we age together you and I”. I want you to be around for a long time so we can have many birthdays together and we celebrate together than we have made it this far, and we will keep going. As long as we take really good care of each other.

So on my birthday…

… please ask yourself, what can you do for your body to be more of a friend, to travel this journey called life together, as healthy and as vibrant as you can possibly be…as you age. Because that is what we all do, so let’s get used to it and let’s appreciate it and make the best of it.

Because I love birthdays – celebrate with me.

Celebrate with me by celebrating YOURSELF.

And check out the Health Holiday gift page!