36

It is a quiet Sunday, and my 36th birthday.  It is quite the thing, a birthday.  I have been more and more taking the time to look back at the year that I have lived, and also peeking into the future...but not too far.  I don't claim to know the meaning to life, and I never will.  I do hold fast to the idea that I now need to live the best life possible and try to be a good person on all levels.  The age 36 means nothing to me, really.  It is more of a mile marker of sorts, reminding me that time is still passing even though my attention is often focused elsewhere.

My morning began with my two daughters playing and wishing me a happy birthday.  Now, two cups of coffee into the day, we are preparing to go to a movie and then watch some football while I fold laundry and enjoy some pizza.  The simple things are now a luxury to me.  A party is not necessary, nor even birthday recognition.  It used to be that my birthday was a day to have massive celebrations or looking forward to presents.  Now I am starting to realize that I really want to just celebrate with some time to consider all of the gifts I have been given in life, and the people who are most dear to me.

I can honestly say that if my life ended this very moment, I would be satisfied and feel a complete lifetime has been lived.  While I have no intention of leaving this life anytime soon, I find comfort in having reached a point of contentment and accomplishment.  There is still so much to live for, and so many more adventures to be had.  These feelings of completeness combined with all of the blessings in my life, make any future endeavors simply icing on the proverbial cake!  Birthdays come and birthdays go, it is what we do with the days and hours and minutes and seconds in between them that really show how much we have grown and lived.  And now it is time to take my daughters to the movies.  Isn't life grand?

-a