How to Double the Birthdays You Have Left
Are the years going by too fast? Are there likely fewer birthdays ahead than what you’ve already had? I have a possible solution to this problem: more birthday celebrations. Today is my half-birthday, making me 57 1/2. Maybe I’ll even celebrate quarter-birthdays in a few years.
Lost my marbles, but then found this one!
Think about it: the older we get, the more amazing it is we’ve survived another decade, and then another year, and then another six months, etc. Why not celebrate? I know that from 35 to 55 I wanted to forget about my birthday, to ignore that another one had snuck up and was marking my path toward decrepitude. But around the time I gave up trying to convince my body that it was anything near young, and friends started struggling with and even dropping dead from heart attacks and cancer, it became clear that Time was now in a reverse mortgage. I don’t know how much it is worth–is my lifespan a mansion or a cardboard box? But it’s my half-birthday and I’ll party if I want to ;D
Time cannot be stopped, and it seems to go faster because we’re so familiar with it. The more familiar it is, the more we live on autopilot, doing things by rote. Routine is really good for getting tasks done, but it’s a lousy way to live life itself. Changing things up, whether in small ways or large ways, becomes challenging and absorbing, and keeps us too busy to notice the passing of time, or at least not notice it so much. But it can get harder and harder to change things up voluntarily after, say, the age of fifty, and certainly after sixty; even changing the way you watch t.v. can throw you for a loop, let alone deciding to sell the house and move to Costa Rica. Not that it can’t be done, but circumstances and inertia can have a tremendous impact.
It is easy, however, to simply meet the passing of time head-on. By celebrating my half-birthday I’ve automatically doubled the number of birthdays I have left, right? No, I don’t know how many that is, but I figure if I only have one actual birthday left, I’ve now got two, and if four birthdays, there are now eight, etc. If my actuarial numbers say I have 25 birthdays left, why then I now have 50! And if I have fifty birthdays left, that’s like still being in my thirties, hmm? A saggy, baggy, wrinkly thirty, but not so much if I don’t wear my glasses in front of the bathroom mirror. Whoever said Time is an illusion has nothing on me. I’d rather hang with the one who says that Age is a state of mind.
Of course the alternative would be to become ageless, to no longer be concerned with temporal matters. That would truly be a minimalist alternative to birthdays. But I don’t wanna. I’m going to have something spicy for dinner and extra chocolate for dessert, and go wild and have a large glass of wine. The birthday state of mind is just a bit of gratitude and mindfulness, and a big wink at the gloomy fellow over there with the scythe.
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to me. And many more.
25 Responses to “How to Double the Birthdays You Have Left”
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Hee hee, this post was fantastic. I love your humour and attitude to it all. I agree with making up your own rules and enjoying all the extra chocolate. Isn’t it really just a great way to celebrate you and give yourself some love? Happy half birthday!
Hi lucent–I report that the black bean chili was hot and tasty, the extra chocolate completely decadent, and of course the wine wrapped things up nicely. Totally worth it
Happy Half-Birthday! I love this idea! I’m a big fan of having parties “just because” so this one is right up my alley.
*hugs* and huge wishes for a great half-year!
Annie recently posted..Every Purchase Makes a Difference
Hi Annie–thank you very much, and many returns of the day for whenever your own half birthday comes up!
This post made me smile. Happy birthday (and many more)!
Rita@thissortaoldlife recently posted..Say you want a revolution…
Thanks, Rita ;D
I love that line about the change in TV schedule. You really have got me pegged. I hate it when my favorite show goes off. Its summer where I am so normal programming is disrupted for tennis and cricket. But I am being very grown up and finding other enjoyable things to do.
Hi Linda–oh, yes, the t.v. sched changeup! We just do Netflix now, with a minimum of network programs (The Good Wife, The Mentalist, Person of Interest, and Elementary are not available via Netflix), so the seasonal thing isn’t too traumatic. But now we watch all of a series at once, and if it’s a long one and I’m hooked, like MI5 or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, it it grievously difficult to stop missing it!
But–sigh–one must be grown up about it all, and find new programs to get hooked on ;D
I spent the first 30 or so years wanting to look older so people would take me seriously . . . I’ve spent the second 30 years wanting to make people laugh more. I wish I’d focused more on what was right in front of me and just be whomever I wanted to be and less of what I thought people would like. What a bloody waste of time.
Time is of the essence. No matter what our age this could be our last day on Earth . . . I want it to be the best day ever. That is what I strive for now. That’s what aging has done for me . . . I’m grateful for everyday!
Thanks for a great 2012 full of humor and wisdom Meg ~ happy 1/2 birthday!
Darris recently posted..Where sanderlings gather . . .
Hi Darris–Oh, yeah, the wanting to be taken seriously stuff: guilty guilty guilty. I was one of those people who got carded when buying alcohol until I was 34. Then it suddenly stopped, and sent me into crisis for a year, after which I realized I really didn’t want to look older anymore, I wanted it all to stay just like it was for the rest of my life. Hah.
Now I’m grateful for every day I can get around and work and hang out with Steve and my son and DIL and our sundry friends. I might feel and look like crap, but if those other things can happen, it’s enough, and worth celebrating!
Meg,
What a fabulous tricky way to be mindful, happy, and awake! Love this so much. You are unique and I love you for that.
Sandra Pawula recently posted..True Happiness Begins with the Right View
Aw, Sandra, that’s sweet
I’m probably just plain crazy, you know!
Happy half birthday!
Why not celebrate conception 9 months before birth, too?
Hmmmmm–that would be a party for the participants of that event, I would think. Also, much more difficult to pin down the date. You, know, et, the more I think about it, the more I really don’t want to go down that road, haha! ;D
Happy half birthday! I’m actually reading this on my very own half birthday. We’ve long celebrated them in my family – started as a way to make all the cousins feel equally celebrated during summer vacation at my grandparents house. My winter born cousins were jealous of the big family gathering for our summer birthdays.
Hi Annie–yep, the summer vacation birthdays could be slim pickings unless an effort was made. One of my friends in elementary school had a birthday in January, and there was an in-class party with cupcakes, as there was for all the kids with birthdays during the school year. She thought it was not fair that mine couldn’t get a cupcake party because it was six months later, in the middle of summer. So we made a pact that we’d celebrate both our birthdays on each birthday, in summer and winter. We went our separate ways after a couple of years, but it was a nice idea at the time.
In my family there was an unusual number of July birthdays, and they were all celebrated at the same time, usually at a 4th of July picnic.
I’ve always celebrated my 1/2 birthday as it is my sister’s birthday. And at 57 1/2 I was eligible for retirement from the school district where I had worked 21 years so that made that 1/2 birthday even better although I didn’t actually retire until I was 58.
dkzody recently posted..My life on paper
Hi dkzody–sounds like 57 1/2 is a very auspicious age! Things are on the uptick around here, too. Makes me extra glad I wrote this post
Happy Half Birthday Meg! After reading this last night I “treated” myself to a glass of wine in honor of your birthday. It was quite a splurge because I’ve been on a diet.
Here’s to many more half birthdays in your future.
Tanja from Minimalist Packrat recently posted..Releasing My Inner Sparkle Pony
Hi Tanja–long time no see! Thank you very much for taking advantage of an “occasion” to have a glass of wine. Seeing your name in the comments again was like getting a present
Happy Birthday Meg! I love your idea of celebrating 1/2 and even 1/4 years–and I’ve never really understood why all people don’t like to celebrate because to me it is just another occasion to party and celebrate life! In fact, I read a long time ago that when we “celebrate” anything, we are expressing gratitude in a joyful way. So, just like you I celebrate my birthday because I am so grateful for the life I have been given…oh, and now that you’ve mentioned it…I missed celebrating my 57 and 1/2 birthday by a couple of months…so I’ll be joining you this evening in celebration!
Kathy @ SMART Living 365 recently posted..Rightsizing vs. Downsizing—Making A Positive Lifestyle Choice
Hi Kathy–Hope it was a good celebration, too
You know, in South India, we follow the Tamil calendar, along with the Gregorian. In the Tamil calendar there are 12 months and the number of days varies between 29 and 32. Now each individual is born under a star (there are 27 in all) and this star appears roughly 14 times a year. (there’s a point to this info
)
In our house, until children are about 5-6 years old, each “star day” is celebrated almost like a birthday. Of course, in some households such as ours, we continue to remember and celebrate it even as they grow up…but you can see how we’ve gone overboard about not just doubling the number of birthdays
…but multiplying them manifold.
Never need an excuse to celebrate life.
Glad I came over from Sandra’s. Happy birthday to you!
Vidya Sury recently posted..I Just Received A Gift
Hi Vidya–I now know something I never knew before, and must say that “star days” are right up my alley ;D
What a great concept, particularly as it is shared by lots and lots of people!
Thanks for visiting from Sandra’s blog–she has wonderful readers.