Birthdays are a big deal in our house. We don’t just celebrate the day, or the weekend, we have upped the ante to a whole week… or maybe two weeks, if I’m being honest.
So while today is my actual birthday, I’ve been celebrating for a few days now.
And by celebrating, I also mean treating myself to extra treats here and there – you know the little things in life.
But I would say the past 48 hours have been particularly interesting.
Yesterday night in Sacramento we literally had the craziest winds I’ve ever seen. I also happens to be the night my running group meets every week- rain or shine.
And because of the crazy rains and wind, I seriously went back and forth about bailing on this week’s practice.
The rain, the wind… but come on, it was also my birthday eve! I had every reason to skip.
But the rule-follower in me won out. If there was practice, I should go.
When I showed up, the winds were literally 35 miles an hour (I checked my Strava) and it was raining really hard. Let’s put it this way, I knew it was a bad when only 15 out of the 60 obsessive runners in our group showed up.
As we all tried to run speed drills against the crazy wind, I found myself smiling and laughing.
In a funny way, I couldn’t think of better way to cap off 36.
There is something about sticking with something no matter what. I find a certain joy in it. That push you find when you dig really deep.
For so many years, I was quick to give up and doubt myself over the littlest things. Now I can find the grit to push myself.
It’s empowering and exhilarating at the same time.
This morning an equally eye opening experience happened when I got home from spin class. I noticed I had a flat tire.
Not the best way to start a birthday.
And certainly, if something like that happened just a few years ago, I would have really taken it to heart as a bad way to kick off a new year.
But instead, I simply called AAA, got the spare put on, made my way to the tire store, and walked across the street to enjoy a yummy breakfast as I waited on my new tires.
This was no “symbol” of “starting the year off on a bad foot”.
Life is what you make of it. No piece of metal that poked into my tire was going to take away from my birthday joy.
I am so thankful for my health, all the love in my life, and the opportunities I have everyday to find joy and gratitude.
And this is why I stretch out my birthday.
There is so much to celebrate. How can I limit it to one day???
