Give Birth To Yourself Every Day

Have you ever attended a one-hundredth birthday celebration? My experience is that it is pretty awesome!  I have now attended two. The first one was on August 27, 2000, the party for my father in Eastern Washington; and most recently on June 27th, 2026, the wonderful party for my step-children’s Aunt Marcia in San Antonio, Texas.

Looking beyond the grey hair and wrinkles, and imagining their experiences and their thoughts about the changes that occurred during their life spans, in both cases (my Dad and “Aunt Marcia”) their faces were young and glowing and, yes, ageless!

So, a question here is one Satchel Paige, the oldest Major League Baseball Player in history is actually quoted as asking, “How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” Muhammad Ali answered the question with “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.”

An anonymous quote regarding aging: “Don’t just count your years. Make your years count!” Will Rogers said: “Eventually you reach a point where you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.” (Pablo Picasso suggested that “it takes a long time to become young.” Is that simply acceptance?)

What then follows as a way to live one’s life? What advice can one glean from all the words and quotes, observations and suggestions?

I vote for “Live vicariously, beautifully, and excitedly. Discover, love, dare, and act as if there is nothing to lose.”

Life, after all is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you react to it. Aging is natural. Your reaction to it is on you! It is never too late to have a happy childhood, or to be what you might have been. As the Dalia Lama shared: “The purpose of our lives is to be happy.” And D. H. Lawrence shared that “Life is ours to be spent, not to be saved." So, live large!

And… as Steven Wright said, (and I take a page from his book) ”I intend to live forever. So far, so good.”

The poem I wish to share with you is one that was written several years ago, and is published in my book “Beginnings.” Each day holds a new promised beginning.

GIVE BIRTH TO YOURSELF EVERY DAY

Old habits are for old people, so its said.
So reinvent yourself while you still can.
Each night, as you sleep, you leave it all behind.
Every day is your chance to begin again.

Like the butterfly, you’ll go through stages of change, 
Be reborn and transform into your new self.
You will create a new clarity of purpose,
And put your outdated ideas back on the shelf.

You’ll break out of your comfort zone, to be sure,
And shed old layers of obsolete behavior.
You’ll stretch in your potential to be your best self.
Stay on your path. Don’t even waver.

Your goal is to be free of outdated limitations.
You’ll experience rebirth, and take flight.
Follow your dream and pursue your bliss.
Each day is a new life. Relish and delight!