The Importance of Celebrating Birthdays

My son, Masaya, celebrating his 4th birthday this past weekend.

Hello there and happy February friends! 2014 is not wasting anytime and neither am I.  My pregnancy is progressing nicely and everyday I feel more and more like myself again. But this post isn't about me and the wee one inside my tummy, its about birthday and why we need to celebrate them. 

My son turned 4 on January 31st and I couldn't be happier. These past few years have flown by so quickly I literally have to stop and catch my breath. That is why it is so important for me to make sure that I celebrate those milestones. Not just for my son, but all my loved ones who are still with me. As a child, my mother always went out of her way to make my birthday special, to make it memorable.  I always wondered why and she would say "Your birth is always something to celebrate". This has always stayed with me. That a birthday, no matter how old or young the person may be, is indeed something to be treasured. We hear oh too often how someones life was cut short. Most recently, the death of brilliant actor Philip Seymour Hoffman, at the age of 46. It was shocking to me that he had passed, but more so that fact that he was so relatively young. I am someone who has always learned to live in the moment, the present. Time is fleeting and it is something that people take for granted. So when someone reaches another year of their life, in my opinion, there is always time to celebrate.

I especially feel this for children. They need that encouragement, that motivation. The pat on the back for reaching that next level. For them to know that this day is only for them. That it holds a special place in the history books. I wish I could accurately describe the look of euphoria that my son had while his family and friends were singing "Happy Birthday" to him. Even the picture above does not do it justice. I thought to myself, if I could bottle that feeling, how wonderful the world would be. Even now, I can't help but smile remembering just how purely happy he was. The older we get, we tend to lose that feeling. Rather its replaced by the fear of getting older and frankly that's a shame. I don't fear growing older, actually I like it. My fear is that I won't grow, I won't learn from year to year. That I will be stuck in the same mindset and attitude and that would be a real tragedy.

So let's take a lesson from the kids. They know what this birthday thing is all about and why it should be a day to celebrate.

Love Malinda xoxox