You are Unique. Celebrate That.
By Kaitlin Costarene
Your birthday only rolls around once every year. One day out of the 365 days. That’s only one chance to celebrate everything you are with everyone you love. As we get older, our birthdays seem to lose a bit of significance. Of course, they are still as important as they have always been, but with each year, many people feel less and less excited about celebrating a new year of life. If this doesn’t sound like you, keep it that way.
Think back to your childhood - maybe you had a cake and a party hat and a group of people singing “Happy Birthday” to you during those years. Now, think about your parents. Do they celebrate with a cake and a party hat and a big group of people singing to them? If not, they should! Just because we get older every year doesn’t mean we should lose our childlike excitement about our birthdays.
While some of us are not huge fans of our “special day,” others really know how to blow it out. For those of you who celebrate, I applaud you. Whether you are eleven or nineteen or fifty six, it is important to acknowledge that you have lived another year of this beautiful life and have another exciting one ahead of you.
My birthday is on December 24th. A Christmas Eve birthday often gets jumbled up in the festivities of Christmas. Although Christmas Eve is a day that most people spend thinking about Christmas, it is a day that I spend thinking about myself. I have never had a birthday party with my friends on my real birthday, but that has never stopped me from celebrating. My family wraps my birthday presents in birthday paper and my Christmas presents in Christmas paper. My mom makes me a cake, my family sings to me, and it feels just like anyone else’s birthday. My birthday and Christmas are two separate holidays, two separate special days. I am not someone who likes attention, but I refuse to pretend that my birthday is just like any other ordinary day, or that it doesn’t matter (especially because it is essentially Christmas). It isn’t. And neither is yours.
Each of us are unique. You behold certain traits that no others demonstrate in the same way you do. There will never be another individual exactly like you, no matter how many people share your birthday. You are rare. So with that, there’s no excuse not to celebrate! Celebrating who you are every day is even better, even if it’s in small ways. But for now, make it a goal to spend each of your birthdays doing what you love in the company of those you love. It doesn’t have to be a huge birthday bash every year. It can be as simple as dinner with a friend or going to the mall with a family member. Anticipate your birthday with excitement just like you did as a child! Count down the days, remind your friends, and if no one gets you a cake, get one for yourself.
Do whatever you enjoy on your birthday, and never forget that you are special! If you ask me, that’s something to celebrate.
