On Turning 31

I love birthdays.  I think everyone’s birthday should be celebrated in a big way because that is their special day! We each only get one day a year that is all about us, so I think that day should be made awesome!

And then I turned 29.  And I hated my birthday.

Turning 29 felt like I was running out of time.  I had all sorts of dreams and hopes for what I would accomplish in my twenties and when I turned 29 I realized two things…

* I hadn’t yet done what I had planned on accomplishing

* I only had one year left to get those things checked off the list!

And if I thought 29 was bad, 30 was even worse!

My life officially didn’t look like I thought it would…and that was really difficult for me.  When I entered my twenties I had so many hopes and dreams for what I would accomplish during the next decade.  I didn’t just dream big, I chased those big dreams.  And here I was, 10 years later, and I wasn’t married.  I didn’t have kids.  I didn’t have the life I had dreamed of, and I wasn’t sure what to do with that reality.  So I stopped dreaming big.

And then a couple of months ago, this light switch went off in my head…My life didn’t look like I thought it would, but in so many ways, it was infinitely better.  And it was time to start dreaming big and chasing those dreams again.

And then I had this amazing realization…my 31st birthday was coming up and even though to many people that is an insignificant birthday, to me turning 31 is another chance at a golden birthday.

Four-and-a-half years ago I made the decision to become a Thirty-One consultant and that has literally changed my life.  So the #31 holds a lot of significance in my life and even though the year I turned 7 was my actual golden birthday, I’m getting another chance this year!

So today as I celebrate my birthday, I am super excited to start intentionally embracing life and living it to the fullest.  I let my inner voice get to my when I turned 29 and 30, and I am here today to tell you that I am squashing that voice!  I like to dream big.  I like to do life big.  I want to be fully engaged in life at all times.  I want to try.  And honestly, I’m okay with failing big because it means I tried.  Life might not look exactly like I pictured it would look, but in my heart I believe that if I begin intentionally embracing MY journey, my life is going to look soooo much better than I could imagine!

I would love to ask each one of you to do something for my birthday…go and try something new!  And if you do, I’d love to hear what you try in the comments below!