I have always been thankful for birthdays. I have often said that they are something to live for, in fact. My parents always made a great amount of hooplah over our days. Take for example, my 13th birthday when they invited my whole class to a surprise party.
And clearly, they pulled it off. Because a 13 year old girl can’t fake that kind of excitement. I mean, you would think my friends and I were at a T Swift concert here, for goodness sakes.
But anyway, back to birthdays. I always thought they were special because my parents made them special. And then. Then I had my first baby. And I got it.
Birthdays are days to be celebrated. Because before that very first birth day, you didn’t get to be here. Living on the planet. Breathing the air. And having things to be thankful for. So you celebrate with friends.
And I got why my mom felt like she needed to retell my birth story every year. Because it was her day. And my dad’s day. As much as it was mine.
That is something I learned in my first 33 years. And boy, have they been good ones. In fact, my first 33 years were mostly charmed. Were mostly without any real hardship of any kind. Were really sort of magical.
Even this year, although not what I would have planned… I have continued to be blanketed with goodness. In my first 33 years.
So what do I want for my next 33 years? What does anyone want in their pursuit of happiness? In their trying to navigate this one earthly life we get to live? Well. The answers are different for everyone. But I came up with a list of things that I want in my next 33 years. Because, crackers and toast, am I excited to be alive this year! And so I think it’s a great occasion to make a to-do list for my time on this planet. And I challenge you to come up with yours. As my friend, Meghan’s, dad, has brought to light in her life after an early on-set Alzheimer’s diagnosis, #liveyourbucketlist, friends. Meghan’s dad, luckily, has lived quite the life to date… it doesn’t sound like he let much grass grow under his feet. It sounds like he gave his kids a life full of lessons and fun and memories. It sounds like he lived… and continues to live… even through his diagnosis {and what an inspiration that has been for me, daily}. Don’t wait until you hear you’re kicking the bucket to make and do your list. Live your list {thank you, Meghan, for allowing me to borrow that}.
Honestly, it doesn’t even feel like there’s any possibility that it’s February 22nd today. The last six months have been so surreal… a little like I’ve been standing outside my life. And so this year’s day of birth sort of snuck up on me. But caused me to be quite pensive about my list.
So what’s on my list? For my next 33 years? Well… if I were a wishing gal…
In my next 33 years I would…
1. See each of my boys graduate from high school.
2. Have sex with my husband on every wedding anniversary for the next 50 years. Errr… or at least some heavy petting.
3. Record another song in a music studio. But this time with my guitar. And my dad.
4. Travel across an ocean with the hubs and the boys. Destination TBD.
5. Take my parents and Adam’s parents on a “thank you-cation”.
6. Give our children traditions that they will want to give their kids. Including an Alligator guarding the Christmas tree, cherry 7up during the Holidays, and wearing red on Husker game days.
7. Stay in every state before Harrison graduates high school.
8. Make memories with my siblings, Adam’s siblings, and our nephews/niece.
9. Run a half marathon or sky dive. I feel like one of those “cliches” has got to happen.
10. Write and publish a book.
11. Tell people in my life, daily, what they mean to me. As often as I get the opportunity.
12. Teach my boys how to handle failure. And hard stuff. And what it means to be resilient.
13. Travel to Hawaii.
14. Go on a girl’s trip every other year with some of my tribe.
15. Not have anymore cancer.
16. Celebrate my parent’s and Adam’s parents 60th wedding anniversaries with them.
17. Leave “a really big tip”.
18. Help pay for our boys’ undergraduate degrees.
19. Learn to make one really great recipe that I can memorize and make from scratch, without fail.
20. Love my body through exercise, healthy eating, and self-acceptance.
21. Pray deliberately for those who ask for prayers. Pray for my kids every day.
22. Dye my hair pink.
23. Attend Adam’s “most-wanted” sporting event with him. And try to understand it.
24. Keep blogging. Maybe make money off of it. Maybe not.
25. Figure out what I want to be when I grow up.
26. Dance like no one’s watching. Always.
27. Eat grits in the south. Lobster on the upper east coast. And potatoes in Idaho. {I know. Potatoes. But you get the picture}
28. Seek out opportunities to give and share goodness. Spread the goodness!!!!!
29. Hold Adam’s hand at a James Taylor concert.
30. Cherish real friendships through communication and displays of gratitude.
31. Celebrate the big stuff. And the little stuff. Because it’s all big stuff if it’s part of life.
32. Teach our boys how to be independent. And how to say I love you. And please. And thank you.
33. Be real.
That’s just 33 things. I’ll stop there. For now. Because that’s one a year. And that’s doable. And some of them are things I can do and check off and others, are going to be constantly in action.
Much like Tim McGraw, I know that no matter what I do, in my next 33 years, I wanna have some fun. I want to make a difference… whatever that might mean. And I want to live.
A big thank you to everyone who read my post yesterday and is praying for me today and this week. I asked for 1440 prayers and if views are prayers, well, I think over 5000 people will be covering me in prayer for well over a couple of days. So thank you. Thank you for sharing and asking your prayer people to join in. I just can’t even begin… but I will simply say, thank you for covering me in prayer. I would love to repay the favor. Just say when. You have given me everything I wanted for my birthday. I am a lucky girl.
I pray that you, too, will find a way to #liveyourbucketlist in your next however many years. This is the life we get. Live it right.
