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HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEVEN KESSLAR

BabyBoomer

By BabyBoomer
in The Deli

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Keith30309 Grand Master

+ Keith30309

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Steven - you've been very generous with your words over the last year and, as you can see, we have birthdays on the brain!

 

And it has got me to thinking of the importance of birthdays. Why do we celebrate the success of living another year when life could end at any moment? And if so, shouldn't we be grateful for every day? As my nan (or maybe mum/dad?! has said before, "always wear clean knickers as you never know when you might get hit by a bus". In that case - I hope you support the act of daily cake-eating in celebration of your making it through another day without getting hit by a bus. Although in Palm Springs the deathly automotive is more likely to be a scooter.

 

So why do we need a yearly celebration of ourselves? In my opinion, the birthday is more important now, in the busy 21st century, than it ever has been. We live in a technologically fast-paced world in which we can eat a meal and not even taste it, or take a train through lands we've never seen whilst glued to our smartphones instead of the window.

 

We live in a world that more and more calls for mindfulness, a practice often viewed as an overly-strict strain of Buddhism but which makes more sense to me than any other practice I have come across. To perform daily actions whilst at the same time reflecting on them is a key way to appreciate the amazing situations and experiences that life has to offer.

 

Readings I have reviewed on mindfulness advise it as something to be practiced time and time again until you become acutely aware of your actions and their consequences, not just on the world around you, but also on your psyche as a human being.

 

But let's face it - could you see yourself walking down a long street being acutely aware of the fact you are walking? Or would you have your headphones in and your iPod blaring like I usually do?

 

Hence - once a year, we have the perfect opportunity to sit back, be aware of our actions and choices of the previous year, and reflect on them. Much in the same way as New Year's Resolutions, we can use birthdays as a celebration of a year of growth, and gear up for more to come!

 

Musing upon your birthday, as you must with your many, many very, very thorough Forum posts, it is good to be thankful for what you have in life and what you have accomplished. But open your eyes to the larger picture. If we are to appreciate the fruits of life, we must first appreciate the tree that bears the fruit: birth itself.

 

Birth is your beginning, Steven. It is a window to the chance of a lifetime, the chance to fulfill your unique mission. So a birthday is a momentous occasion, to be commemorated just as a nation commemorates its birth or as an organization celebrates its founding. Still, it is much more than an occasion to receive gifts. It is a chance to remember the day that a major event occurred, to celebrate and give thanks and to reflect upon how well we are fulfilling our calling.

 

Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you, Steven, at birth is present once again. A birthday is a time to celebrate birth itself, the joy of life. It is also an occasion to rethink your life: How great is the disparity between what I have accomplished and what I can accomplish? Am I spending my time properly or am I involved in things that distract me from my higher calling? How can I strengthen the thread that connects my outer life and my inner life?

 

A birthday can also teach us the concept of rebirth. To recall our birth is to recall a new beginning. No matter how things went yesterday, or last year, we always have the capacity to try again. Your birthday is a refresher, a chance for regeneration--not just materially, but spiritually.

 

On your birthday, gather with your family and friends and study something meaningful together.

 

There is no better way to celebrate a birthday than to commit a special act of goodness. It is easy enough to say you are thankful; it is far better to show it by doing a kind deed, something that you did not do yesterday. Not because someone is forcing you. Not because someone suggests it. But simply because your inner goodness, your soul, wants to express its thanks for being born and alive.

 

Happy

Birthday

Steven

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