Letting go of My December Birthday Beliefs

Holidays mean something a little different to everyone. For me, it usually means an overshadowing of my birthday.

If you have a birthday smack dab in the middle of the holiday season (December 22nd here!), I know you understand my frustration and pain.

I have many birthday horror stories that have shaped my opinion on my birthday and the holidays. Specifically, the overwhelm of my underwhelming birthdays past.

But one birthday celebration in particular has stuck with me all of these years and has hit me harder in 2020 than any year prior.

One year, my boyfriend took me to a dinner for special guests.

And who were these special guests? Other people suffering from the unfair side effects of December birth.

That night, we were all able to get our feelings out to others who understood us and felt our pain.

It was glorious!

But it got me thinking..

Every year, I’d been obsessed with my birthday being neglected and overlooked.

I lost the holiday cheer and spirit and felt the holidays were narcissistic and overwhelming.

After this dinner, I started wondering if I was the one who was just a bit narcissistic - obsessed with the idea that the world should stop turning for me just one day a year to make me feel special when the reality was, so many people DID try to make those days special for me and the other dinner attendees and sadly, so many of those people were no longer with us!

In our post-COVID world, I’m realizing that the holidays mean something a little different to me.

The spirit of survival and togetherness - THAT is my holiday spirit.

You can listen to my journey with these beliefs on the Stories that Empower podcast.