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| Weeping may endure for a night. But, joy comes in the morning. #Birthday |
Awhile ago, MTV had a show entitled, "My Super Sweet Sixteen". It was a show that highlighted people who had truly epic birthdays. This year, mine was anything but. The beginning of my birthday was one for the books. Not a fairy tale. It was completely nonfiction--raw, unadulterated and real. Indeed, my birthday began with a bang. Not the good kind. But not the tragic kind either.
It was the kind of annoyance that comes with dealing with people who have their own agendas. It was a reminder that this journey is full of surprises. It was an opportunity for me to see if I believe what I preach--that this journey in all of its imperfection is to be celebrated.
So, I dug deep. I had to so that my entire day wasn't mired in tears, disappointment and regret. I reminded myself that I am resilient and that I have to make my own magic. And, I had a happy birthday, in spite of it all!
Here's how.
You may have noticed that I not shared a lot of unpleasantness in recent months. The pandemic was hard, I try to focus on the positive, and I have learned that some people lurk. And although they fail to comment on the blog, they relay what they read back to my husband. (We'll discuss why he isn't reading it on his own for another day.)
At least they're reading, right?! No reader is a bad reader when it comes to page views. Am I right?!
Anyway, my birthday book this year would be an exercise in how my kindness, resolve, and patience were tested when people surprised me by putting a bunch of stuff in my home, and failed to tell me beforehand.
It completely disrupted my life.
Admittedly, this is a first world problem. So some might say, it shouldn't have upset me. Keeping it completely real, it upset me a great deal. I share the story to contextualize this discussion as opposed to seeking a review of what happened. Everybody has their own story and those who put me in that position have theirs. This post is about how it affected me and how I overcame it.
I share this to really tackle this question. What happens when life throws you a major curveball that you cannot avoid. What do you do in that moment protect yourself and preserve your sanity. And, how on your do you celebrate???
My answer to that question is that you just do. You have to because if you don't, you lose! I tackled my situation by maintaining my birthday ritual of running. Running reminds me that I am truly alive and vibrant. I feel like I accomplished something. And, because I work in healthcare where there are medical emergencies every minute, it reminds me that I am blessed beyond measure.
There's an expression, "You can't let anybody steal your joy."
It's shared so often that it's become a cliche. Despite it being overused, it is very true, especially for working moms. As working moms, we have jobs and children who depend on us. For those reasons, our ability to overcome obstacles is critical. Because if we don't we cannot be successful at work or as moms.
As it relates to this post, I simply refused to allow other people to ruin my day. In many ways, I wish that this post was about how I had the most amazing birthday of my life where those in my life made me feel loved and cherished and not like an inconvenient afterthought. And to keep it completely real, that would have been better.
Still, I am proud of myself and what I learned. I learned that I can hit a curveball--even a wicked one. I also learned that I am really resilient and not just faking it. And although I wish I didn't have to learn that lesson on my birthday, I am glad I learned it because I kind of think it's my super power!
Also, the photo above was taken the week after my birthday. I posted that one to remind us all that life will change for the better, if you can just remember that joy--even when it may seem distant--always comes if you don't give up!
If you'd like to learn more about the importance of resilience, reach out to my friend, Deborah Gilboa, MD is a "Resilience Expert". To check her out, click here.
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