I’m terrible with Birthdays, I always have been.
I forget to call, I forget to write. It isn’t that I don’t care about you. It’s that I don’t care about Birthdays.
Your Birthday is meant to be a celebration of your life. And if we still lived in a time where you’d have to ford three rivers, repair a broken axle, hunt a 400 pound bear (but only carry back 200 pounds of meat) and of a party of 6 only 3 of you might make it through 5 years then you’re damn right a Birthday would be worth celebrating! In that case every Birthday would be a major throw down.
But these days all you really have to do to make it through most years is not text while you drive and keep your eyes up and your ear buds low enough that you don’t step in front of a bus.
I exaggerate a bit, but mere survival is no longer worthy of the celebration it once was…
But I do think your life is worth celebrating. And if you’ll bear with this case against Birthdays I think I have an suggestion for an alternative. A Birthday replacement.
Why celebrate simple survival when we can celebrate contribution and personal betterment. And for that reason I’d like to consider celebrating your Personal Best Day.
Much like you may celebrate, fondly remember, and constantly challenge your ‘Personal Best’ or ‘Personal Record’ for fastest mile or heaviest lift, do the same for your life. Remember, celebrate, and constantly challenge the way you’ve bettered yourself or the word around you!
A Personal Best Day can change as you accomplish new feats and continue to improve the world around you. A Personal Best Day can be celebrated both while you’re here, and after your gone in a way a Birthday or day of passing can’t.
I don’t expect the whole world to change, but I would like to make this change myself. To show you that I care about you, and what you’ve achieved during your time here.
I didn’t get the chance to ask my grandmother (Karen Highberger Yoko, pictured above with her Great Grand Daughter) and to honor her and to make sure I don’t fail to ask others I care about, I’m asking now. What is your personal best day? (You can enter it in the survey below, or click here to take the survey.)
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PS – Sorry for all the times I didn’t wish you Happy Birthday.
One Comment on “A Case Against Birthdays”
One particular day does not stick out.. More of a plethora of days throughout my life that were extremely valuable to me.
I still remember my first day of riding lessons. I think I was 6. I met Spike, learned how to brush him, feed him, and started riding that day. That was a big day since as I know I did want to grow up to be a horse.
The day I made Varsity soccer. I had not even started hs yet (a couple days later) and when Meg told me I made the team I was shot to the moon and back. You couldn’t even try to wipe the smile from my face for the next week. It was huge.
In college, the day my roommates and I spent watching the sunset by the lighthouse senior year. We were so content yet trying to keep the real world from coming. It was one of the most beautiful sunsets I have ever seen.
Also in college, quality time spent with Brett. Your first love is a big deal and we had a lot of fun days. Whether it was relaxing, going to play baseball, dinner… 99% of the time it was filled with laughter. He as my family/home away from home.
Every time I come home to Bridget, Meaghan and Ivy is one of the best days of my life. When we are together it feels like everything is put on hold and everything is right. I could not live a day without one of them.