Birthday Celebrations Come With Lessons: Often Years - Or Decades - Later!

Do you remember your first crush/puppy love/whatever it was called (at least when I was a teenager decades ago!)? And how broken hearted you were over them not responding in the way that you had hoped and prayed they would?

Well, in honor of my birthday today I'm sharing a story from a birthday a long time ago. A birthday with a lesson that has positively impacted my entire life since. Insane how, as we get older, we remember so many things from so long ago! Especially birthdays! It's probably why the youngsters don't want to hang with us oldsters as we recount our many stories! LOL

Anyway, this song by Lesley Gore was actually played, at my request, at my 14th birthday party. Whew, where have all those years gone? I was madly in love with "Billy", the sweetest and most gorgeous man (well to me he was a man at the time!) I had ever seen. So I invited him to the party a girlfriend hosted for my 14th birthday. He accepted my invitation - and then he NEVER showed up! I was devastated! And cried the party away - listening to this song! But there's a beautiful ending to this story...years later.

Soon after my party, due to the horrendous living conditions with a mentally ill mother (paranoid schizophrenia) and an emotionally deficit alcoholic father, I ran away from home and lived in the streets of Toronto Canada for a year and a half, finally got a job performing in nightclubs - and then eventually (begrudgingly) returned to my parents home to complete my final year in high school (just for the record, I was 2 grades ahead of everyone before I hit the streets!). Big mistake returning home (on the surface...but the lessons keep showing up years later...right?) Crazy unbearable 8 months at that house which could never have been truly called a home...another story for another day!

But one night I was out with some friends at a local drive-in theatre. Anyone remember those drive-in movies? It was a night when my parents were out and I took advantage of the opportunity to get out of the house for some fun since I was grounded 24/7/365! Left the bedroom window open to climb through if necessary later that night! (Always the strategic planner! LOL)

So, at the intermission (yes, we had those back in the day - a great way to increase junk food and drink sales! LOL) I headed out for popcorn and sodas at the refreshment stand for the carload of people I was with...and ran into "Billy".

So about 5 years later I got the low down on what really happened that fateful night. And it was the opposite of everything I had imagined! Funny how that happens isn't it? Anyway, we (emotionally) shared our experiences that evening so long ago, he apologized, told me how much he admired me, and how beautiful he thought I was (all that time I thought I was just not pretty enough for him! :D). We hugged (tightly), kissed (passionately) - what an awesome closure! Yet, I realized at that moment that he was not the man for me...but that we were teachers for each other!

I never saw Billy again...but I learned a huge lesson. Nothing is as it seems. So nip that darned negative imagination and self-talk in the bud, and replace it with a positive image, picture, experience, outcome. Your mind has no capacity to differentiate between the real and the imagined. Talk to any successful athlete, performer or business mogul. What your mind can conceive you can achieve. So let yourself conceive and achieve stress-free success, happiness, and joy! Let your imagination run wild - and then let your whole self run with it if it matches your dreams!

And finally, turn this sad song (It's my party and I'll cry if I want to...) into a joyful song (It's my party and I'll love if I want to...) - and take charge of your experiences and emotions instead of your experiences and emotions taking charge of you!

So go ahead, enjoy the journey...and share your experiences in the comments section so we can all grow and flourish together!

For more than 45 years Dr. Marilyn has transformed hundreds of thousands of lives globally, as an inspirational & motivational seminar leader and keynote speaker. Author of several bestselling books, including her most recent #1 International Bestseller, “The Stress to Success Formula: Transform Your Life, Career Business Now!” and "INSTANT E.N.E.R.G.Y.?: The 5 Keys to Unlimited Energy & Vitality. Get your FREE Top 10 5-Minute Energy Tips at https://www.5MinuteEnergyTips.com

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