89% of Americans say it's important to celebrate birthdays, but let's be honest. Birthdays can be quite the paradox. You're thankful and excited to see another year, but then there are all of these emotions that may or may not have caused you to reevaluate your entire life. Maybe you feel over or under-whelmed with how far you've gotten within the years you've been here. Maybe you've had a traumatic event since your last birthday, and you feel obligated to maximize your life. Well, whatever you felt I'm sure you were not alone.
Days leading up to my 25th birthday I kept trying to figure out what exactly I was feeling. It took me some soul searching (and a vacation which I'm currently on) but I came up with 3 words: discontent, redirected, and appreciated. There were several moments I tried to refrain from having thoughts of discontent but I couldn't help myself. I thought how ungrateful and greedy of me to feel this way when I have accomplished so much at such a young age. I've only been 25 for 5 days now but I no longer feel the need to suppress my emotions. Having a clear self-concept has helped me navigate my feelings. Because of that, my discontentment soon turned into redirection. Or maybe it was redirection all along and the discontentment was just one step in my emotional discovery process. Either way, I feel inspired to do and try more because I know that I'm capable of more. More in my career and business endeavors, more meaningful experiences, the list goes on. The last thing that I felt was appreciated. I often try to encourage and push the people in my life; and I felt that in return on my special day. My family, friends, and partner are so special to me and allowing them to express their love and appreciation eased my anxiety.
I could write a book about how it feels to celebrate a birthday. I'm sure you could too. In my honest opinion, I think those uncomfortable feelings are like growing pains. Allow yourself to feel freely. Maybe try journaling, meditation, therapy, or even talking to an accountability partner to further understand your thoughts. Living another year is such a blessing and I'm forever thankful! I can't wait to share all of things I'm working on.