A Birthday Wish…

By gracefully50

“Once I was looking through the kitchen window at dusk and I saw an old woman looking in. Suddenly the light changed and I realized that the old woman was myself.  You see, it all happens on the outside; inside one doesn’t change.” 
~ Molly Keane

I turned 52 Saturday ~ yikes!  I felt a twinge of pain and struggled a bit…no, a lot! 😦

BUT, I am thankful!  I’m thankful that I was able to enjoy another birthday with my family.

My wish…to accept and celebrate aging  gracefully…to always remember to be thankful.

 

 

Thank you sweetie! Always so generous and giving….your gift of love and support is what I cherish the most.  Thank you for cheering me up and making this day so special!

 

 

To my beautiful daughter, who desperately wanted to buy me a gift…the best gift you could ever give me is time spent with you!  Thank you for spending the day with me.

 

A surprise gift delivery from my son who’s in  S. Korea ~ a ginormous fortune cookie with a sweet note inside.  It brought joy to my day…I wish you could have been here, too.  Miss you!

 

~~~~~~~

I came upon this inspirational article and found it so appropriate for today’s post.  It was written by Regina Brett, a 90 years young, of Cleveland, Ohio.  I know it’s a long list, but every one of these are SO worth reading.  I hope it touches you as much as it has touched my heart.

“To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I’ve ever written.  My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more”:

 1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick.  Your friends and parents will.  Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don’t have to win every argument.  Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone.  It’s more healing than crying alone.

8. It’s OK to get angry with God.  He can take it…

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.

12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don’t compare your life to others.  You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.  But don’t worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood.  But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.  Don’t save it for a special occasion.  Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now.  Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words ‘In five years, will this matter?’

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything.  Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don’t take yourself so seriously.  No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.

35. Don’t audit life.  Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day.  Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time.  You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come…

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.”

Thank you very much for visiting my little corner.  Wishing you a wonderful week full of laughter and joy!

Jeannie

Advertisement

72 thoughts on “A Birthday Wish…”

    • Thanks susiemae!
      When you get to my age, attitude matters more than anything else in order to stay young.
      Enjoy your youth! Time goes by faster as you get older…people used to tell me this all the time, and now I’m telling the young ones….yeah, I’m getting old…

  2. Happy Birthday Jeannie!! And I admire & agree with your decision to accept & celebrate ageing gracefully – there are so many reasons to be thankful for another year, or even another day with the people we love & ageing is something to be embraced because as we grow older we get to experience so many new things & explore all the new chapters of our lives!!

    And of course, you look absolutely amazing, so you don’t need to fear age in the looks & style department either!! 😉

    Hope you had a fabulous birthday (it looks as if you did! 🙂 ) and keep enjoying the journey!! xoxo

  3. Happy {belated} birthday Jeannie!! You are such a beautiful woman inside and out!! So glad that you got to spend time with you family! And thank you for sharing those life lessons!

    xo, sam

  4. happy belated birthday to you! What a sweet post, your children are gorgeous and sweet. I’m waiting for the day my children will be all grown up and buying gifts for their mommy. Your hubby is so sweet and loving too. What a great blessing to have a wonderful close knitted family. You look fabulous at 50! Wish your many more good years to come!

    mongs
    mythriftycloset.blogspot.com

  12. Happy Birthday Jeannie!! As I say to my friends on their birthday – “congrats you get one year awesomer today!!!” I love what you have written, it all happens outside – inside doesn’t change:-)
    And you have a gorgeous family – just like urself!
    BTW, just wondering if you son is in the Military? in Korea….
    Happy Birthday again and may this year be as elegantly beautiful for you as you yourself are!
    -Jyoti
    Style-Delights Blog
    Let’s Twitter Together

    • Thank you Jyoti!
      I’m grateful for another blessed year. My son is working there but not in the military. I’m hoping he’ll be coming back soon to the states…it has been hard on this mom.
      Thanks again for your wonderful comment!

  13. Jeannie thank you for such a wonderful post…it brought tears to my eyes….My dear you are an inspiration (I myself turn 53 next month… with blogging and reinvesting in myself this last year…I am not only grateful, but excited for my “what’s next”), your beauty, inspiration and loving honest outlook shines a light for us all, in the conflicted path of moving on. Thank you.

    • Thank you for your wonderful comment Tamera!
      I can’t begin to tell you what your words mean to me. I’m so grateful to have this outlet to share a small part of me and to know that it matters…even if in a small way. Thanks you!

    • Thanks Lady J!
      Hubby was really sweet! I wasn’t too happy about turning 52…was kinda depressed about it if you want to know the truth. He made sure I had a good day. He’s a good guy!

    • Hi Laura,
      Thank you so much! I wish my son was here…but it was a really nice day! I didn’t really want to do anything, but hubby kinda forced the issue. I’m grateful cuz I had fun!

  21. No, you are NOT 52! (Sorry my comment is a little late — it took me quite awhile to pick my jaw up off the floor so that I could start typing). Have a fabulous birthday.Keep doing what you’re doing, because your life is obviously agreeing with you!

  24. Oh, Happy Belated Birthday! You still look graciously gorgeous and you have such a beautiful family. Best wishes to you and your family. :))

  26. Happy Belated Birthday! I, too, am 52 and am very thankful for each new day that I’m blessed with. Thank you for the article written by the 90 year old lady. It made me think. I printed it up so that I can remind myself to live in the present ~ every day!

  33. If I was in the room with you right now, you would have to suffer through my painful rendition of “Hear It’s Your Birthday” by the Beatles! You are so lucky I am across the state….I am happy you had a wonderful birthday with your beautiful family!

    Happy Birthday!!!
    elisa

Leave a Reply to iiona virgin Cancel reply

Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in:

Gravatar
WordPress.com Logo

You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Facebook photo

You are commenting using your Facebook account. ( Log Out /  Change )

Cancel

Connecting to %s