Happy Birthday To Me

Today has been the 59th anniversary of my arrival into the atmosphere of this planet. It has been a glorious day here in Rochester MN where I am visiting – high of 63 with light rain off and on - a surprise breakfast of gluten free chocolate cake personally baked by my lovely daughter – and decorated by 5 year old Sebastian and 2 year old Savannah with melted peanut butter cups and no less than a pound of sprinkles! Then it was off to the playground at the school where Sebastian will start Kindergarten in September (how can he possibly be old enough for that??) Lunch at Famous Dave’s with a huge family platter of ribs, chicken, pulled pork , corn on the cob and fries gave me a Bountiful Birthday Buddha Belly – and spending the afternoon with my awesome grandchildren was…. AMAZING!! On top of that, I spent Friday with my daughter Autumn celebrating both of our birthdays with lunch and an afternoon of ceremic glazes and bisqueware, AND she came home from work at Trader Joe's tonight with a gorgeous bouquet of flowers – who could ask for anything more??

So, on this auspicious occasion, what wisdom do I have to impart from my 59 years of living on this planet? It’s pretty simple really. Start loving and taking care of yourself NOW. It’s so easy to think that there will be plenty of time for that kind of boring stuff when we’re older… when we have more time… or when we actually start to have some kind of problem. But if I had it to do over again – believe me when I say I would definitely find a way to consistently exercise, eat healthy and healing food and do some kind of meditation in my 20s, 30s & 40s. It is 100 times more daunting, more exhausting, more painful to start doing these things in your “almost 60s.” (how can I possible be old enough for that??) My body hurts all the time… I am so tired… I am so overweight and out of shape… and I am making changes, but believe me, it’s a HUGE challenge to undo half a century of poor choices!

On a more esoteric level, the greatest wisdom I have or ever will have is LIVE IN THE PRESENT MOMENT. Most everyone knows what that means, but how many of us actually do it?? When I ride my breath into the moment, everything gets better. Anxiety is better – panic is less – fear dissolves. When I hang out back in the past or run forward into the future, I start getting sad, scared, depressed… and I begin to suffer. Suffering does not serve anyone. Suffering just makes you miserable – and it can make the people close to you miserable too. Why waste your time on it? So, when the panic or fear or sadness come, I try to notice my breath and come back into this very moment. It almost always works, when I remember to work it.

I was hoping when I sat down to write that I would have a lot more deep, crone-type wisdom to share. I guess not. Truth is pretty simple when you don’t complicate it. “Live in the moment and take good care of the body, mind, and spirit you've been given” is not exactly rocket science, but then, I am definitely NOT a rocket scientist. That would require math… (shudder). But I think that’s the best I can do right now. Live in the moment and take care of yourself. Honor the Divinity within you... and within everyone else. What more is there to do?

Namaste.