2023 — A Birthday to Remember: A Story of Gratitude and Love
If you haven’t already read, I would recommend you read my previous blog post — “Birthdays are still fairytale moments for some people like me” to see what sort of planning I had for my birthday and then come back to this post.
I do believe in birthdays being a fancy fairy tale moment, where you feel extra special every single second of the day. But what I did not expect was them turning out exactly the way I had wished for. I had created a long checklist of all the things I wanna do on my birthday to cheer myself up and love myself more. From dawn to dusk I had it all planned and was very sure it was gonna be a success, coz it was a plan made by me, also gonna be executed by me, with little to no reliance on other folks. Yet, for the first time in my life, I was happy, things didn’t go per my plan. That I had lovely people who ameliorated the plan and made it even more special for me. Of course, I ensured I execute most of the stuff I had planned wherever possible. But this was one amazing flawless perfect happiest birthday.
Surprisingly, I was all set and ready since 11.50 pm the night before my birthday, to get all the calls, thank for all the wishes, and probably even ready to entertain anyone who will show up at 12 am at my house. I was a lot more excited. It may sound too whatever when you read, who gets ready at 12 am for their own bday. But I made the decision, I wanted to live each and every second happily with no regrets, and no blame on anyone. Even if nobody had shown up at my door, or nobody had called up at 12 I would have still stayed the same happy person I was at 11.50 pm.
My husband brought a chocolate cake, my best friend showed up at my door at midnight with caramel cookie cake and cracked up seeing me all dressed up, knowing I was all set and ready already. I blew out the candles, with full on smile on my face as if this is the first time, I’m celebrating a birthday. We hung out for a bit, laughed, cracked jokes, clicked pictures and enjoyed the little special moment before my friend headed back to her place.
The next day, my birthday morning, as promised I made myself crispy dosas, coconut chutney and tomato chutney and enjoyed the minimalistic breakfast, with a sort of happiness and contentment inside. I swayed till noon, wandering aimlessly within my house, video calling my family, talking to friends etc., till 1 pm -ish and got ready for my birthday lunch with my friendssssssssssssssssss!!!
Also, Fairytale moments necessitate fairy tale kinda dressing up, don’t they. I wore a kalamkari frock I had gotten, yet the reflection on the mirror bothered me a bit, because my dress didn’t scream “IT’S MYYY BIRTHDAYYYYYY!!. Duh!! To get second opinion I sought my husband’s help who then popped the most requited question — “Is this a new dress?”
Well, that’s all I needed to hear to toss out the frock and quickly find something else and get ready before he comes back. To my luck, I found a new saree I had gotten for anniversary and pulled a crop top, and for the first time, I draped a saree in a record breaking 4 minutes and got ready before my husband could get back from bath. TBH, I was proud I draped it in 4 minutes at ease and was happy with how it turned out.
I cheerfully left my flat in an outfit I loved, with all matching accessories, handbag etc. with my husband. We chose a beautiful bistro with outdoor dining and lovely ambience for lunch and my friends soon joined. I had a smile stitched onto my face as if it was made permanent and nothing could stop it. My friends made me even happier with a beautiful bouquet of fresh roses, spreading its aromatic fragrance to that already exquisite vibe. They had also gotten me a little something that I had been planning for a long time to buy but kept postponing, a very thoughtful gift. And my favorite blueberry cheesecake was brought in with HBD song ringing in bg. Blueberry cheesecake serendipitously became the dessert I go to when I’m low, angry, frustrated, and even happy. A comfort dessert. I took tiny bits of pieces and savored it like I always do.
A beautiful outdoorsy bistro, wonderful breezy-almost-raining climate, set of closest friends who matter to me, my loving husband, a beautiful bouquet of roses, a thoughtful gift, my favorite cake, endless love, endless wishes, and lots of good vibes. I must say I was already feeling a lot happier, lot loved, cared about, contented just through mid of my day. The lunch ended with infinite clicks for otherwise, the purpose of draping a saree would be defeated, without a snap.
The hyperactive me always loves to stay busy for I’m the kind of person who wakes up early on weekends than weekdays coz I want longer weekends, wherein I’d do anything and everything I wanted, I rather prefer that over an extra sleep any day. And having a perfectly busy birthday was all I wished for.
Soon after our return, I had to step out again to a different café to meet another friend who couldn’t join us. All decked up in western outfit, we’d hit a café. Girls Gossips, philosophical discussion, men, life, relationship, spirituality, psychology, all didn’t fail to pop up during the conversation. Have you come across this line, “sometimes spending time with your girlfriends is all the therapy you need in life” Well it was a cute, brief, yet meaningful connect at the end of my day.
From the very second my birthday started, till the very end of the day and the surprise celebration couple of days before, heartwarming wishes from my parents, gifts from my sisters, cute voice messages from my nieces and nephews, all the cakes, flowers, gifts, everything collectively made me feel so special and loved.
In fact, my birthday celebration started 2 days before my bday. There was surprise cake cutting at a friend’s place with my favourite song — “You are my sunshine” by Christiana Perri playing in TV. I looked around the room — very special surprise cake, loving friends around, my favourite song in tv, smiles and laughter, everyone was all happy and excited, and whole place had a happy vibe spreading.
There was a birthday I wished for, and then there was the actual birthday which was far more from what I had wanted. Everyone who met with me, everyone who couldn’t meet me, ensured they pass on their love, affection, good vibes, wishes and made that day extremely special for me.
I was so lucky, my birthday vibes didn’t end even after my birthday, a friend sent me a book I had been long wanting to read, my Max Life friends sent me a very cute handbag & earring, my sisters got me a journal planner I love, and I gifted myself couple of books on Spirituality & Strategy, Great combo right!
Reading this you might feel, “Well, all of that sounds pretty normal to me, isn’t that how birthdays are supposed to be?”. Trust me, it is not. “What is basic for one, is luxury for another. “
At the end of the day, when I closed my eyes and reflected upon the day, I realised -
It’s not the 4 cakes I had cut
or the 8 gifts I had received,
or the 25 pictures we had clicked,
It is the small things, the big things, the special efforts, the calls made, the texts sent, the love showered, the words spoken, & the words unsaid, the good vibes shared, the intent to keep me happy, make me feel special, efforts to love me, that made me feel incredibly grateful & blessed.
I realised birthdays were also days, where I make a conscious effort to keep myself happy, where I don’t let negative energy get anywhere near me, where I stay in happy zone, and accept, and love life for what it is. Maybe If I try, I could make everyday happy like this day.
All said and done, it wouldn’t have been the BESTEST of all DAYS, BESTEST of my birthdays if not for the people I had, from friends to family.
I don’t know how birthdays going forward are going to be. But do know one thing for sure -
2023 Birthday — Aren’t you the new benchmark for rest of the birthdays to follow!
