New Adventures

CONNECTING THE DOTS

Erin Outcalt

By ERIN OUTCALT

mcp blogger

This week I anxiously look forward to celebrating my 28th birthday! Ok, I’m a big fat liar. I’m looking forward to celebrating my 38th birthday… kind of. I realize that age is just a number and that you are only as old as you feel but there is still something about approaching 40 so quickly that is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

My father used to call me up on my birthday and say, “You’re half way to…” and then he would double whatever age I was. So this year I will be halfway to 76! Did I do the math right? Sadly I guess I did. My father’s unique birthday greeting was kind of fun to think about when I was a kid and looking forward to getting older. At 8 years old I could imagine what it would be like to be 16 and able to drive. This novel way that my father mockingly “celebrated” birthdays got old real fast when the number started getting exponentially higher each year.

Children anxiously await their birthdays. It’s a time of celebration and most importantly presents. Who doesn’t love getting gifts and big cake just to celebrate the fact that you were born? I’ve found that as I’ve matured over the years that birthdays have lost that magic for me that they used to contain when I was a child.

Somewhere along the way the presents became less fun and more practical. The cake still tastes good but now I have to think about carbs and sugars while considering where they will all end up if I eat more than one piece of cake. It’s becoming apparent to me why I don’t look forward to birthdays so much anymore. They aren’t fun.

I could dwell on the negative feelings that this birthday is stirring up in me but I think that rather than looking at this birthday as halfway to 76 I think I’ll take the time to celebrate and remember the 38 years that I have been blessed to enjoy. It seems as though I have lived several different lives throughout the years. Each segment of life so different from the next but each so amazing even with all the ups and downs.

I am so thankful for the special people I’ve encountered throughout my life that have helped to guide and encourage me along the way. I’m even thankful for the people who have challenged and hurt me. The good, the bad, and the ugly have all shaped my life and blessed me beyond whatever I could have ever dreamed for myself. This week I will celebrate the very special 38 years that God has given me and be thankful for the new adventures yet to come!

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