Birthday Gratitude
Have you ever sat down and thought about the millions of things that had to happen for you to be born?
Generations of people lived entire lives that eventually led to yours. Your parents had to meet. Their parents had to meet. Tiny moments—some joyful, some difficult, some completely ordinary—had to unfold exactly as they did for you to be here.
Then I like to think about all of the major milestones that happened after that day. Every decision, relationship, challenge, opportunity, and tiny moment that led to this particular birthday—my 35th birthday. That's a lot to be grateful for.
Finding the space and time to reflect outside of New Year's resolutions or birthdays isn't always easy. As part of my Yoga Teacher Training, we're encouraged to meditate every day. If I'm being honest, I've spent many of those days pressing play on a bedtime meditation... and falling asleep before it finished.
Can we call that habit stacking?
Eight hours of sleep and meditation? I'll take the win. 😉
The funny thing is that I've spent most of my adult life avoiding meditation. I'd skip past it in yoga videos or spend the entire time mentally organizing my grocery list and tomorrow's to-do list while waiting for it to be over. Then I discovered gratitude meditations.
Three to five minutes of intentionally reflecting on what I'm grateful for completely changed my perspective.
I'm grateful for another lap around the sun — Truly. Not in a "you only live once" kind of way, but because I know firsthand that another year isn't something to take for granted. Getting healthy again took real work, and there were moments when the outcome didn't feel guaranteed.
I'm grateful for a career that allows me to set an out-of-office message that simply says:
"Enjoying my birthday weekend. Good luck."
I'm grateful for my husband and my daughter, who continue to love me despite how wonderfully extra I become every birthday.
I'm grateful that last October I decided to begin this journey. Today I'm only four months away from graduation, and for once I'm not rushing toward the finish line. I'm genuinely enjoying becoming a student again.
If you've ever been curious about starting a gratitude or meditation practice, I highly recommend Insight Timer. (Not sponsored—I just genuinely enjoy it.) They have hundreds of free meditations and month-long challenges. Right now I'm working through one focused on burnout and exhaustion alongside my daily gratitude practice.
Maybe gratitude doesn't have to wait for birthdays.