From Dr. Jane's Notebook
The Lighter Side of Birthdays
Birthdays... we all have them. We all have feelings about them. And they effect us in
different ways. As children, we quickly come to know that our birthday is our special day.
Not only do we get presents, parties and special attention, but we assume a new level of
maturity and self-respect. As we age, however, birthdays can often bring feelings of
conflict. Here are a few thoughts on the matter.
- Birthdays are a time of reflection. As the anniversary of the day of
our birth, birthdays, like other holidays, carry a string of memories of other birthdays
celebrated in the past. We often remember past relationships and those who are no longer
in our lives.
- Birthdays are a time for putting things in perspective. They can cause
us to rethink our progress in family and career. We often feel pressured to have achieved
certain goals by the time of certain birthdays. We tend to think in terms of percentages
of "life left to go" and "life already lived".
- Birthdays are a time for fresh starts. They may represent opportunities
for change and starting over. Depending on how we view a birthday, we may feel imprisoned
by our years or freed up to take a new direction.
- Birthdays are a time for thanks. The one truth about birthdays is that
they are celebrations of life. This milepost, however regarded, is an accomplishment in
itself. We have physically survived through time. As we consider the ever-present threat
of our mortality, we can appreciate the fact of survival... our own and of those we love.
As baby boomers approach different decade milestones, we are faced with the challenge
of interpreting our birthdays. If its immortality we are searching for, I've found mine in
the T.V. series "Star Trek: The Next Generation". Just knowing that there will
be Counselors aboard the starships in the 23rd century, known as Betazoids, is a great
relief to me. With that in mind, I'll gladly turn 40!
©Copyright, 1993, 1995, Jane R. Rosen-Grandon. All rights reserved.
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Last Updated October 25, 1998 by Gary M. Grandon,
Ph.D.