How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?

Perhaps you don’t really celebrate your birthday - some people I know don't - or perhaps your birthday is your favorite day of the year. Either way you will want to read this article.

If you are a birthday lover - this will give you more reasons to love your day. If you aren't a birthday fan (it just reminds you that "I'm a year older today"), this article will give you a completely different focus for this day.

Notice the title isn't 12 ways to celebrate a birthday; it's 12 ways to celebrate your birthday! What follows are 12 specific ideas to make your special day even more special.

·      Eat your favorite food. It's your day - you deserve it. Even if your favorite foods don't "go together," they do today. Enjoy!

·      Do a favorite childhood activity. Maybe it was a board game, or playing tag, or doodling. Whatever it was, do it today! Do it as a way to reignite your inner child and your creativity. Do it for the pure enjoyment. You will be amazed at how it will make you feel.

·      Remember your favorite birthday. If you have a particular birthday that sticks out to you, spend time thinking about it and reveling in those memories.

·      Laugh out loud. Do something that makes you laugh with delight! Laughter feels good and is good for you. Perhaps one of the other ideas on this list will make you laugh out loud - if so, great!

·      Give a gift to someone else. We all know it feels better to give than receive, so why not give gifts to others on our birthday? Consider starting with your mother - after all she had a more memorable day when you were born than you did!

·      Give your day away! You don’t have to give a physical gift, you can give your time - to someone you love, to a charity or whatever you wish! Make your day a gift to someone else.

·      Give yourself the gift of time. Sometimes our days are so packed with events and tasks that we don’t have time for ourselves. Consider giving yourself the gift of time for your own rest and relaxation (or the time to do another item on this list!).

·      Send yourself a card. A few days or weeks before your birthday find a card you love, sign it and write yourself a note. Then address and stamp the envelope and ask someone to mail it to you a couple of days before your birthday. This is a great way to guarantee a card, and I promise it will make you smile.

·      Spend time with someone you love. This might overlap with a couple of other ideas on the list - but that’s OK. What could make for a better day than spending time with those you care about the most?

·      Make a memory. Challenge yourself to create memories today that will last a lifetime.

·      Reflect on the last year. Your birthday is a milestone, so it can be a great day to review your results and actions of the past year to see how you have done and determine what is working - and what isn’t!

·      Set some new goals. Today is a perfect day to look forward, to project into the future, to set goals for the next twelve months. If you don’t have goals written down, today is a perfect day to create them!

You'll notice this isn't like some lists you read that make you think you should try all of the ideas. It wouldn’t be possible to do all of these things in one day. The ideas fall into a focus on your past, present or future - and all of them are about you.

The key is to pick one that feels right to you and add it to your celebration. It is your day after all!

Final Note: While these ideas are written from the perspective of celebrating a birthday, all could be used - though perhaps tweaked slightly - for a team anniversary, company anniversary or other organizational milestone date.

Oh, and one last thing. You don't have to wait for your birthday to do any of these things. You are alive and you can celebrate for that reason using any of these ideas you’d like. You have my permission.