What's in a birthday?

Well...let's see...it's my birthday and where I can honestly say I do not feel any older, I most certainly do not feel any younger either. Which by the way I am 100% okay with. I got married and had my first child in my very early 20s. I finished undergrad and grad school soon thereafter. By the time I was 30 I had three sons and was a full time school teacher.

I have enjoyed my full trips around the Sun. This year as I reflected on my year I thought about what I had learned, what wonders I still had and lessons I had learned.

So here it is:

What I have KNOWN is that my tribe is everything I'll ever need. The older I get, the more I focus on careful organization of people in my life. Some are my tribe- these are my maximizers, my personal cheerleading squad, my "Fav Five", my Ride/Die Crew, those people I can call and cry one minute and laugh about why I was crying the next. Other categories are acquaintances, friends, co-workers, colleagues (yes there's a difference to me), classmates, customers, and stakeholders just to name a few.

What I have WONDERED is how people can be so mean spirited and show no compassion towards each other. I have friends that are in both sides of the aisle politically. I have friends who are on opposite sides of the aisle religiously. I even have friends who raise their children differently than I do. The difference is that I can honestly say we respect our differences. We don't have to look the same or believe in the same things to be respectful. I sure don't have to live someone else's life to be compassionate or show empathy towards their personal or community sturggles. Just because I might not believe in the same life styles that you live doesn't mean I don't want you to have equality or equity in everything that this world has to offer us. I believe in Thomas Jefferson's quote:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

These are all important to me and believe it or not happiness can probably encompass all of that.

Last but not least, I've LEARNED that choosing the right attitude can help you overcome obstacles. I read a quote by Buddha today:

"Train your mind to see something good in everything."

I have been working on this for awhile now. I can probably pinpoint it to the time my mom passed away. I had to make myself choose the right attitude, I had to make myself choose to get up and not cry, for the sake of my family. I had to make myself see that I still had a life to live and that my life still could influence others.

Happy Birthday To Me! Here's to another successful trip around the Sun! Carpe Diem!