Take A Breath With Miss Ann

Take A Few Breaths With Me

Celebrating My Birthday Month

I tend to annoy my friends and family every year this time. You see my birthday is in a few days, but I don’t just celebrate it for one day, I celebrate my birthday for the whole month of July. That’s right, July is my birthday month. As we get older, most of us don’t want to think about our birthdays because it reminds us of our mortality, I say bull crap. I say embrace the present, accept reality, and maybe get a good party in the bargain.

There was a time when I would avoid at all cost any mention of my birthday. Something changed. I realized that I was alive, that I made it through another year and I was grateful. And the best way to show my gratitude to God was to celebrate. So the key word is not birthday, but celebration. Let me explain, celebration has two meanings – commemoration and festivity. In one sense these are opposites, but in another they show the full reach of life, and life has its sadness and its joy. This expresses our relationship to both the vastness of the divine and the simplicity of a single breath. And well, celebrating is also just plain good exercise. It relieves stress. It takes your mind off how you’re coming across and plants you securely in the moment.

Think about celebrating your year of growing younger, or just celebrating everything possible. Note a friend's birthday, anniversaries -- give them a call or send them a card. Celebrate having new experiences, discovering new places, making it through a rough patch, seeing the results of your work or just how blue the sky.

Remember you cannot age while celebrating, unless you do it with too much champagne.

I try to celebrate my life every day I live, but July is special, it’s my birthday month, come celebrate with me.

Miss Ann