{"id":4704,"date":"2013-09-19T12:01:16","date_gmt":"2013-09-19T16:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/?p=4704"},"modified":"2013-08-11T23:14:13","modified_gmt":"2013-08-12T03:14:13","slug":"birthday-joy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/09\/birthday-joy.html","title":{"rendered":"Birthday Joy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"birthday<\/a>I recently overheard two women discussing the upcoming birthday of one of them. The tone was somber, commiserating, reigned, somewhat sad, somewhat fearful. In my opinion, that not how birthdays should make you feel! These women acted like a birthday was the next step toward doomsville. It made me sad that they couldn\u2019t find the joy in a birthday.<\/p>\n

Well today is my birthday and I\u2019m celebrating with the joy of a child. I\u2019m still the me I was yesterday except that my age is one number higher.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t wake up in an older skin or find new lines on my face today. Yet I know that my new age represents another joyous year of living, learning and growing. If I\u2019d just remained stagnant over the last year I might not feel that way. But I don\u2019t want to waste my life by lamenting about getting old.<\/p>\n

Your years represent the abundance you have, depending on how you\u2019ve used them. Your birthday abundance is reflected in:<\/p>\n

\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The good friends you have
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Your relationship with your family or if you cut off the ones who treated you poorly
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0How much you\u2019ve helped others
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0How much you\u2019ve empowered yourself by setting boundaries, saying \u201cno\u201d to what you don\u2019t want, taking risks, learning to express what you think
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Taking steps, however small, to making your dreams come true
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The amount of joy you had during the year
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0The amount of good self-care you gave yourself
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0All the things you can list when you count your blessings.<\/p>\n

According to that criteria, I have lots of birthday abundance. While I have some signs of getting older, I feel grateful for everything I have. So I\u2019m as giddy about the day as I celebrate another year of my life. It\u2019s important to accept that you can\u2019t stop the years from passing or your age increasing in number. But, it is your choice to make yourself miserable or to feel joyful that you\u2019re still here and have many blessings. Trust me, the latter is so much better!
\n**************<\/p>\n

Join the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! Take the 31 Days of Self-Love Commitment<\/strong><\/a> and get my book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways<\/a><\/strong> for free at http:\/\/howdoiloveme.com<\/a><\/strong>. Read my 2013 31 Days of Self-Love Posts HERE<\/strong><\/a>. Join the Self-Love Movement\u2122<\/strong><\/a>! on Facebook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Please leave comments under my posts so we can stay connected.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently overheard two women discussing the upcoming birthday of one of them. The tone was somber, commiserating, reigned, somewhat sad, somewhat fearful. In my opinion, that not how birthdays should make you feel! These women acted like a birthday was the next step toward doomsville. It made me sad that they couldn\u2019t find the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,2,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4704","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-positive-mental-attitude","category-self-empowerment-confidence","category-self-love-acceptance"],"yoast_head":"\nBirthday Joy - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2013\/09\/birthday-joy.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Birthday Joy - Lessons from a Recovering Doormat\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I recently overheard two women discussing the upcoming birthday of one of them. 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Let Me Count the Ways, a She's appeared on hundreds of TV and radio shows, including Oprah, Howard Stern, and Good Morning America and has been quoted in dozens of publications, including the New York Times, Chicago Sun-Times, Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Marie Claire, and Men\u00b9s Health. After being a consummate People Pleaser who felt unworthy of getting her own needs met for many years, Daylle found a path of self-love that enabled her to build her self-esteem and reinvent herself into a dual career. She learned to get taken seriously without being overtly assertive when she became one of the first women to start an independent record label (on a dare!) and learned to play ball nicely and successfully in an industry dominated by men. To help independent musicians empower themselves, Daylle writes music business books for Billboard\/Random House, including the very popular Start & Run Your Own Record Labe and I Don't Need a Record Deal! Daylle's books have been translated into over 10 languages and are popular around the world. She speaks for colleges, organizations and corporations. Through her company, Project Self-Empowerment, Daylle creates programs and materials to help people empower themselves. One goal is to raise the money to self-publish her book, How Do I Love Me? Let Me Count the Ways and give it away for free in colleges and through organizations, to give thanks for all her blessings. 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