What makes a good birthday?
Half-year reflections and celebrations
We’re exactly halfway through the year and it’s time to reflect. It also happens to be my birthday. July 1st is a great day for a birthday in my humble opinion. It's just easy to remember a birthday that kicks off a month. And I have the added luxury of having my birthday be exactly halfway through the year. It also had the added bonus of being nearly the perfect distance away from Christmas each year. I was guaranteed presents every six months, and that is not to be taken lightly as a child (or even an adult for that matter!).
Birthday Traditions
As I've gotten older, I've gotten into a few patterns on my birthdays. First, I've never been a fan of having huge birthday parties with lots of people. It doesn't really gel with my personality. I much prefer more intimate affairs with small groups. Even as a kid, I had a few decent-sized birthday parties with all the kids in my class. But by the time I was 8 or 9, I much preferred to just do a fun outing with one or two of my closest friends.
Amusement parks were our choice. There was a nice stretch of years as a kid where I found my way to an amusement park every year on or around my birthday. It was fun for me and equally fun for my lucky birthday friends. It's way more fun to tag along to Six Flags than it is to just hang out in a kid’s backyard or the local bowling alley.
Anyway, no offense to those who had those types of birthdays as a kid. But for me, it was clear from a young age that I did like special treatment on my birthday, but I didn't like the spectacle of lots of people making me the center of attention. I think that still holds true today.
How should adults spend their birthdays?
So how do I prefer to spend my special day as an adult? Well, usually free of as many daily responsibilities as possible. My wife always makes fun of me when I take my birthday off from work. She thinks that I'm a grown man and I should be able to work on my birthday like any other day, but I don't see it that way.
Birthdays are worth celebrating in your own special way whatever that is. If you don't want to work on your birthday, you shouldn't! It's less of an issue these days as a remote worker, but going into a busy office on your birthday is just a recipe for disaster. It's either awkward when everyone makes a big deal and takes you out to lunch, etc. Or it's also awkward if everyone just forgets about it and treats it like a normal day. There is just no winning formula if you ask me.
In the past few years, I've found a really nice birthday tradition. It's going to a float spa. I wrote about some of the benefits of floating a few years back if you want to check it out.
The birthday float
Yep, they used to call them sensory deprivation chambers but have moved away from that term. It's more about relaxing in a few inches of salty water and letting your brain turn off for a while. Maybe it's a fitting birthday activity because it simulates being in the womb? It's just a comforting, rejuvenating thing that seems perfect to do at least once per year. And what better time to make it happen than on your birthday?
So that's what I'm planning today. A chance to relax and think about the year that was and what is coming ahead. Yes, I'll still stay in the present moment and appreciate my current state of life. I'm grateful for where I am at this exact moment and not too concerned about reliving the past or overthinking the future.
Aside from the float, every birthday of mine has a nice dose of outdoor activity. Maybe I'll go to the beach, go for a hike, etc. It's nice to get out on any body of water if I can. I suppose that ties into the same feelings of wanting to be in a float pod every year. And beyond that, my sign is Cancer. All of us water signs obviously want to be in water every day but especially on our birthdays.
In addition to my birthday, this is also the mid-way week of the year, and I suggest that we all take some time to reflect and plan out the rest of the year. The last week of December tends to be a relaxing, reflective week for people and I encourage us to treat the first week of July in the same way.
How has the year been for you so far? Are you happy with where you're at?
Thanks for reading, I’ll see you next week!
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