Because time itself is like a spiral,
something special happens on your birthday each year:
The same energy that God invested in you at birth
is present once again.
Menachem Mendel Schneerson

Recently I had the honour to visit a 3-day old newborn and her adoring parents. This little girl had been much prayed for and had more than fulfilled the expectations of her parents. The love I experienced around her was so present, it was almost tangible. Sleeping peacefully in her cot, she had the potential of a full life to realize ahead of her. As I have not experienced motherhood myself, I took undiluted pleasure in witnessing this happy scene in the Clinique St Jean on a sunny February afternoon.

The adage "as you give, so shall you receive,"
is never better exemplified
than in a giving parent and a loving child,
a mutual gift to each other. -
John-Roger

The miracle of new birth is certainly cause for celebration, but what about when we get older? In our growing years, we are filled with the adventures of learning and discovery, fresh with curiosity and fearless in trying out new things. Engaged in adult life, we need lose none of the excitement of our earlier years, but so often we do. I have met many in their 80’s and even 90’s whose enthusiasm and passion for life is not dimmed by their years but expanded with wisdom and humour.

Another birthday may for you mean extra inches on the waist, kilos on the scale and wrinkles on the face. But what about you, the person inside? Anyone who has lived beyond the age of 50 has had a wealth of life experience. Loving the triumphs and trials, stages and events encountered over the years, which grow wisdom. Not necessarily wisdom to be written about, or passed on to others, but the wisdom of self-understanding, greater detachment and inner wealth.

Our birthdays are feathers in the broad wing of time.
Jean Paul Richter

We may lose touch with the innocence of the infant within us, but it is always there. At any age, there is always more for us: more to learn, more to enjoy, more to try out, more to reveal about our strengths and qualities. Each new experience we have gives us something, one way or another, and so we gain and grow. In her 80’s, my wise mother-in-law said to me: “You know, you never stop learning.” How well we learn depends upon our appetite for, and attitude towards, the circumstances we invite and those that meet us.

What is more, over time we can heal and bless the hurts, misunderstandings and disappointments that came with some of our experiences. We do not need to be held back by bitterness or regret. With our love, we can let go of fears and doubts and step forward confidently into a greater sense of freedom and joy. We can transform our personal limitations into a more expanded outlook for ourselves and our loved ones. And the beauty of this is that as we effect our inner transformation, so the qualities and conditions of our outer lives match our enhanced self-image.

The more you praise and celebrate your life,
the more there is in life to celebrate.
Oprah Winfrey

There is the life that is viewed by the outer world - your achievements, personality, the place you live, the car you drive, the clothes you wear, your status or position. Then there is the life that is your private inner domain. The life over which you have greatest potential control and determination is your inner world. Get right with yourself and everything else will fall naturally into place.

As you rise to and overcome challenges and obstacles, inner or outer, you gain a greater sense of self-value, and your personal presence in the world grows. I look for, and find, so many people for whom their human spirit conquers extraordinary odds. Each of us is, I believe, endowed from birth with the human spirit that is always available to sustain a magnificent life.

Your human spirit is known as love. The love with which we are born can illuminate our every waking moment. How? There are times when I am sure we are each cast down, feeling hopeless or stretched by seemingly impossible difficulties. It is at those moments I need to extend compassion, reassurance and kindness towards myself, to access the love within me and to restore my courage, strength and balance. As I re-connect with my inner nature, I celebrate that once again I am at peace, enriched and confident to carry on.

At the end of a year in which I may have little to show the world outside of me, I will have much to celebrate within me. And it is this spirit of celebration I have to share with others on my birthday. If I have had an apparently non-productive year, I will nevertheless have called on and developed my inner resources. These are the gifts I have to extend to others.

What we are is God's gift to us.
What we become is our gift to God.
Eleanor Powell

The Mediterranean climate of the Cote d’Azur is ideally suited to parties. It is not just the weather but the human climate which is relaxed, open and enjoys taking pleasure in life. To take the time to acknowledge the goodness of our lives, who we are, and to share that with others is such a blessing.

My last birthday was my 59th. It was one of my happiest. I invited friends, some of whom I had not seen for a while, for “aperitifs”. On a warm early October evening, it was such a joy to see them all. I had not anticipated that they would bring me gifts, but they did. I felt so loved and appreciated. A birthday is a wonderful time for bringing friends together.

Believing, hear what you deserve to hear:
Your birthday as my own to me is dear...
But yours gives most; for mine did only lend Me to the world;
yours gave to me a friend.
Martial

My own life journey so far has taught me to create what I want from the inside out. If I want friends, then I need to become a good friend to myself. If I want more love, to love myself better - warts and all, as the saying goes. None of us may be “perfect” but we can appreciate a certain perfection in the process of living. A loving frame of mind leads us to recognize the perfection of this process. The loving starts within us. We were born with it - and it never leaves us.

A birthday is just the first day of another
365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.
Author Unknown

Anne Naylor © 2008