Nov
Last week I celebrated my birthday. No matter which birthday I celebrate inside I still feel like I’m eighteen.
Rather than focusing on how chronologically “old” I was, my focus was on taking care of myself by creating a fun-packed and enjoyable weekend doing what I loved surrounded by those that love me. Rather than wait for others to make plans, I took care of myself and booked a trip to Denver, Colorado to spend my entire birthday weekend with my adult children. Rather than ignoring my special day, I reminded myself how important it was to be alive! While most people are focusing on growing up, I revel in the fact that inside I feel eighteen! How old we feel is the bigger issue, rather than our chronological age.
Ask my mother who turned 95 this past July. She tells all her friends, “It’s just a number.” My mother focuses on her youthfulness which is what people notice first about her. She doesn’t think of herself as “OLD.” Her feeling is that what we FEEL is what we get. Remember Wayne Dyer? His voice mail message said, “Hello I am Wayne Dyer and I want to feel good. Leave a message if it’s positive. Otherwise, hang up and go somewhere else.”
How To Stay Feeling Youthful
The truth is we are as young as we feel. We have to eat a healthy diet, take care of our body with regular exercise (and walking is perfect). As we get older we need far fewer calories to maintain our bodies. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. Focus on the positive and tap into your inner child. Our inner child wants to play, have fun and laugh. Laughter will heal a multitude of ailments. Find ways to play each week. Look into your past and remember what games you liked to play. My father taught me how to play pool at a young age. Billiards, ping pong, hopscotch, badminton, Cards Against Humanity, activities that make you smile and laugh will keep you young.
No matter how old we are, birthdays are a special day. If we ignore a birthday we are telling ourselves that living isn’t important, or we aren’t happy to be alive. Each day is a gift and every year we live is another year of opportunity for joy or to experience love. It is a day when we recognize that if we weren’t born, many things would be different. Our children would not be here, those that have loved us and have been impacted by our presence would not be changed by our presence. I know many people who ignore their birthdays saying, “It’s just another day.” Yet making our birthday special also recognizes how special we are as individuals and contributors to this planet earth.
Plan Something Special
Rather than wait for others to plan your birthday, do it yourself. Book a trip, like I did in advance and take advantage of the lowest airfares while you take care of you. I told my kids what I wanted; to go bowling keeping it simple and the costs down. I didn’t want anyone to experience a hardship while celebrating my birthday. Rather than going out to eat we cooked dinners together.
Surprises Happen
If we don’t think we are special and deserving no one else will either. When we start the wheels in motion we never know what will happen. My son, David took me out to breakfast and planned a special route for my birthday. He is the owner of Pisces Pools in Denver, my children are following my lead by being entrepreneurial. David has a pool business and Adam is starting a landscaping
business similar to what I had created in Atlanta. Ariel is focused on having her own bakery in the future.
My 11.5 Million Dollar Meditation
David took me to a new client’s home south of Denver. He thought I might like to see her property. David’s new client explained that her home had been built by a very prominent Denver attorney 
who spent 10 million dollars on his modern home and another 1.5 on the Feng Shui and landscaping designed by a former Buddhist monk. While David and his client checked out the mechanical vault, I was given free reign to walk the property of this breathtaking Japanese garden and the one next door. The previous owner had both yards designed by the same meditating Zen monk.
After walking both properties, I decided to sit on the large pink boulders facing the Koi pond and meditate. The Japanese tea house in front of me was a perfect focal point for my heart to feel harmony and peace. The sound of the waterfalls on either side of me lulled me to turn deep within. In twenty 
minutes I felt refreshed, renewed and rested. When I walked up to greet David and his client he remarked that I looked as if I had just had a massage. I took care of myself by taking the time for me to go within. Meditation always allows me to feel peaceful and stress-free.
Sitting on top of the cool boulders, I shut my eyes and turned my attention toward my heart. Breathing deeply and exhaling I let go of the travel, the busyness of the traffic and the world and found my way into deep contentment and joy. I stilled my mind using a mantra: “I am the light of The Divine, inside me.” This mantra always fills me with light and love and soothes my soul.
Pick An Activity You Enjoy Doing
When my kids were young we had birthday parties at bowling alleys. I remember having bumper pads for them so they were more successful with their games. Bowling held great fond memories for both my kids and I, after rolling several balls down the alley, I recognized my skills needed a little help. I laughingly suggested bumper pads so I enjoyed my game more. Before long, several others asked for the bumper pads as well. We laughed as we played enjoying each other’s successes and gutter balls with glee.
Make Memories
Every day we have the opportunity to create new memories rather than focusing on the past. While playing a game you might have more fun now then you did then. Our attitudes improve as we grow and evolve. We let go of the past pain and move into joy witnessing each moment in a new and different way.
Chocolate Mousse Instead of Cake
Ariel remembered how much I loved chocolate mousse and made us each our personal pot de creme. Adorned with ample whipped cream and plunking a single candle onto my mousse they all sang happy birthday while I wiped tears from my eyes. Spending time with my kids witnessing their successes in life as well as personal growth was a tremendous source of joy for me. Ariel at twenty-one has become fierce as David pointed out. She has grown to be a confident young woman overcoming the early death of her father and many life challenges at a very young age. Ariel doesn’t tolerate passive-aggressive behavior in her workplace and calls us each out on any negativity or criticism with ease.
Raising Awakened Adults
Witnessing our off-spring being themselves can bring us great delight and joy. Our children can be our greatest teachers when we recognize they were awake before we were. Between the ages of birth to seven years old our children channel, remember what it is like to be with Source (God) and can tell us a great deal about our challenges and issues if we listen. Ariel was channeling at age seven which I noticed because I was beginning to wake up. Just because children are younger than we do not mean they have nothing to add. Listening to what they have to say can speed up our personal awakening exponentially. Out of the mouths of babes comes great wisdom.
Create Together
Tapping into our creative ability as a group can be a fun and enlightening experience. David chose pumpkin carving for our Saturday activity. Each of us chose a different face for our pumpkin and enjoyed just being together. Quips, jokes, and one-liners accompanied our creations as we watched an old favorite movie, Young Frankenstein with Gene Wilder, Terri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Peter Boyle, Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman.
Focus On What You Want And Allow For Something Even Greater To Show Up
When we know what we like and want, The Universe will show up with something even greater than we ever imagined. Living in a state of allowing means we recognize that infinite possibilities bring us something we couldn’t even imagine. Who would have thought when I booked this birthday weekend that I would end up walking through a breathtakingly beautiful Feng Shui perfect landscape and having the time to meditate in it. My former company For Heaven Scapes, Ltd. focused on using Feng Shui to raise the vibration of our installations so that the garden had a Zen-quality to it. When elements are in balance in our gardens our senses are delighted. My birthday weekend ended up being far greater than I ever envisioned because I let go of the details and stayed in a state of allowing.
