So what's been happening with me??

For starters, Today is my birthday!! Yeah! Applause applause (I think I hear somebody clapping out there as well as some dude's derisive, cynical sneer).

I'm 37 today, and that's okay by me. My life is an ongoing work in progress, but I see today mostly as just another opportunity to live a worthwhile life. I am further convinced each day that optimism and self-confidence are the foundations for courage and the risk-taking that is necessary to get what you want.

Any worthwhile endeavor requires risk. I read something the other day regarding friendship. The author suggested that we can know people for years and years and they can be little more than acquaintances. You could go to the bar together, work together, etc. but without risk and a recognition of what's really important, you are just going to spin your wheels and never really find any fulfillment from it.

I have made many close friends over the years, though, honestly, I've let too much of it slip away. I've stood up in, oh, I don't know, six or seven weddings. And, well, the number doesn't really mean anything except that there are apparently several people who think enough of me as a friend to ask me to be part of such a special day. But then, too, I have missed far too many other weddings I should have been at, far too many births, far too many birthday parties. My advice: Show up. Call your friends. Answer the phone. Listen. Forget all the bullocks. I mean, we all need to go out to the bar sometimes and do stupid things. They create memories and help to bond people in different ways. And laughing is a solid and lasting foundation for any relationship. But most importantly, be there when times are tough.

Anyway, on to birthdays. I don't really have any personal feelings about birthdays, but I don't consider them to be bad days. Unfortunately, each time you have one, it would seem that you are celebrating an event that appears ever more distant in memory. I like to think of them as celebrations of life. Like most holidays, I don't really like the formulaic nature of birthdays. Cake, candles, dinner. Why not have 11 or 12 of those days over the course of a year. I mean, we only get a limited number of years on this Earth. Why do we wait to celebrate everything that it means to be alive only a few days a year?

I used to not be a fan of all the messages I would get from people who find your name in their address book and send you a little greeting because it's the socially correct thing to do. I'm saying, MEAN IT if you're going to do it. But I was ignorant, and I think it shows character when people go out of their way to do something for you, even if they don't really have the time or it's not particularly important to them. It's the right thing to do. I am a firm believer in doing the right thing and being yourself at any cost. The most unsatisfying times in my life have been when I've lost sight of this much-needed perspective on life. Must must must keep living...... and loving, the best you can, and it will pay off. Maybe not in ways you expect, but it WILL work out in the end.

Okay, so maybe something more entertaining later..........:)