What is Your Outlook?

The other night at Ce’Anna’s birthday we asked the kids why they loved birthdays. Their answers included, “Because it is all about me!, I get presents, I hear all the good things about me (more in the next blog about that), I am getting closer to being able to do more things, I get to have a party with my friends” and the list went on.

Then we asked what they thought most adults thought about their own birthday. They said, “ugh, I’m getting older, they hate them, they look older when they look in the mirror and they don’t like it.” Hmm, pretty perceptive.

So we started to talk about how and why kids and adult view their birthdays differently and it hit me—At some point in time we stop looking at our birthdays as an opening to more opportunities in our life and instead look at it as a closing of opportunities. Why?

Why can’t we still do the things we want? Why do we put self-imposed limits on ourselves? A birthday should be a celebration of all that you have done in your life. I remember for my 30th birthday I wrote a letter to each of the women in my group about how they made a difference in my life. It was one of my best birthdays and it was about giving rather than receiving.

My grandfather is in his 90’s. His goal is to live to 118. He looks at each birthday as one year closer to his goal so he celebrates with gusto. He winks and says, “I’m going to be the oldest living guy.--won’t see a damn thing with these cataracts but I will still have my scotch!” He doesn’t let poor eye sight stop him and he still lives alone!

Live your life to the fullest.

Each birthday should be one that you look at as an opportunity to open more gates and do more of what you want. Even if it is changing your routine around that can make a huge difference. If you don’t want to look back on this past year and say, “what a wasted year, I didn’t accomplish anything,” change it now.

TAKE ACTION: look at what habits you have that you would like to change or habits you would like to develop and change your behavior to make those manifest in this next year.

Anne Warfield www.impressionmanagement.com