Happy Birthday to Me!

I have never been alone on my birthday. I often tried to celebrate it when traveling with loved ones. And now the circumstances have developed in such a way that I am abroad in the country that is now my home, and I am alone.

I have colleagues and new friends. My family and old friends were also going to come and visit me. It's great, but I thought it was also a good opportunity to do something new.

And I decided to take myself on a date.

Actually, I've never asked anyone on a date, so this is a new experience in every sense. I approached this matter in all seriousness: studied the topic, brainstormed, meditated on each idea, made a detailed plan, thoroughly prepared and enjoyed my day to the fullest.

It was such a magical day that I wanted to share my experience with you.

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Why even bother taking yourself on a date? What the hell?

I agree, it sounds weird and even a little scary. If you nodded, then you definitely need to go on a date with yourself. In fact, you are the only person who will be with you until the very end. I once found this quote. "There are no "soulmates". There are just periods of time when we feel good with someone. Three minutes. Two days. Five years. Life-time." But you have had and always will have yourself, and you need to feel comfortable in your own company. Are you comfortable? Or do you always put on your headset and take out your smartphone as soon as you are alone?

They also say that you need to love yourself. What is love without dates, right?

I personally needed it, because I don’t remember the last time I was alone. I forgot how to be on my own.

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Some tips:

• You need a plan. There are people who love to plan everything and hate when things go sideways. And there are people who hate to plan and improvise, and the day happens to them. I would like to say to the first group that I am in your team, to have a plan never hurts, but if something is not going your way, it's fine and always for the better. A plan is not dogma. And to the second group — improvisation is wonderful, but the plan is far from limitation of freedom. On the contrary, having at least a general plan, you will not waste time, for example, on searching a good restaurant on Google.
• Dress up. It's a date, isn't it. Though dressing up is not about beauty. You should be comfortable and you should feel confident.
• If possible, do it on a weekday. There will be fewer people on weekdays. Obviously. Many thanks to Teradata for providing a time off to recognize my birthday. So I enjoyed my Tuesday.
• This is your date, so you can do whatever you want. I'm describing mine, just as an example.

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This is how my date with myself went:

• Morning Yoga. Like anyone else, in the morning I have to quickly get ready for work or some errands, so I do yoga in the evenings and not for long. I wanted to do a good long yoga practice in the morning to recharge for the whole day. I love doing yoga with Adriene. https://www.youtube.com/c/yogawithadriene The girl is the best in it. "Breath in. Breath out. Lots of love in. Lots of love out."

• Substantial breakfast. I chose GR?D near my house in Vesterbro. This is a fantastic place where you can eat insanely delicious cereals at any time of the day. The creator of GR?D is obsessed with porridge. And as a recruiter, I love everything that is related to passion. I have never eaten such delicious oatmeal in my life!

• Bookstore tour in Copenhagen. Books are what I'm obsessed with. I can spend hours in bookstores and libraries. This is one of my places of power. I am very strong now because I have visited as many as four bookstores. I have been to Politikens Boghal, Vangsgaards Antikvariat og Forlag, Arnold Busck, and Tranquebar. They are all beautiful, all have a large selection of books, including in English. I was happy that I was there alone, because usually no friend of mine endures so much time in bookstores. So this time I could completely relax.

• I finally spent a few hours as a tourist in Copenhagen. I walked in King's Garden. Enjoyed the gorgeous view from the top of the Round Tower. Bought gifts for myself at Str?get which is one of the longest pedestrian streets in Europe and it is full of shops. Then I explored Christiansborg and Amalienborg Palaces. Enjoyed the sm?rrebr?d (the famous Danish sandwich) and views at Nyhavn. And walked through Kastallet to the Little Mermaid. I'm not a fan of the Little Mermaid but I was a tourist, remember.

• I spent the evening over dinner in a cozy authentic Italian restaurant La Rocca. I love Italian cuisine, and happy to have chosen this restaurant. Food and service were top notch. Delicious food, atmosphere and Italian speech made me believe that I was magically transported to Italy for a couple of hours.

• The icing on the cake was the wishes of friends and family from all over the world throughout the day. I am so blessed to have you all in my life!

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When the day was over, I felt like I conquered something, or achieved something important, or as if I had taken a quantum leap. I'm inspired to take another trip around the Sun, and hope you as well feel inspired by my story.