Happy Birthday To Me!!

Yes, today is the day!?The day that I turn 45! Yikes, 45!!!?I mean, it was JUST yesterday I was getting my hand stamped at the coolest night club on South Beach; wearing brown lipstick, a crop top, platform heels, and “smokey eyes” that took forever to perfect!?So how did I get here so fast!?

Well, I can’t answer that but for those of you who are also in your fourth decade and beyond, you know how this feels!?The feeling that so much time has gone by but it feels like it all happened overnight, even the bad stuff that back then, felt like we would never overcome and here we are after overcoming more things that we can count!!?

I always thought that when I reached this age, I would possibly feel “old” or closer to my “expiration date”.?Crazy enough, I feel the opposite!! I feel like I am now starting to LIVE!?I am seeing things through different lenses, I’m not sure what you call that? …Maturity??…Not giving a $#@!?…Just happy to be alive?

Either way, I have more clarity than ever before and feel excited for what my future holds!?

But there have also been great lessons.?Many of my lessons came from some of the bad stuff I have experienced.?What are they, you ask??

Ok, just a few… the “G” rated stuff!

The bad stuff

• Sneaking out of the house at 14 to go to a club for 21 and over (don’t ask how I got in)
• Dating some boys who I would never bring home (please don’t ask)
• Dropping out of college after two years after racking up thousands of dollars in student loan debt and basically flunking out (don’t ask; not ready to talk about it)
• Not understanding the importance of taking better care of my teeth (all good now; after thousands of dollars $$$)
• Sometimes being a selfish leader (I'm sorry)
• Sometimes being a selfish friend (I'm really sorry)
• Getting fired on the same day that I was going to ask for a promotion (I’m ready to talk about it)
• Not believing in myself for most of my life

…And that's just scratching the surface!?I am happy for most of the “bad stuff”; some I could’ve done with out, but I am grateful that I got through them because the lessons I learned allowed me to experience the good stuff!

So now, it’s just right that I share some of them with you!

The good stuff

• Marrying the love of my life (that man has the patience of a saint!)
• Having my two daughters (my hearts)
• Going back to school and eventually getting a Master’s degree (when I first realized my ability)
• Achieving awesome success in my career over the years (not sure how I did most of it)
• Never wearing brown lipstick again (MAC Ruby Roo is my go-to color now!)
• Starting my own business (yeah, that was crazy)
• Finally gaining self confidence and realizing that who I am is EXACTLY what is needed (I get a little choked up saying this)

So here I am at 45 feeling like I hit the jackpot!?

Are things perfect?

Nope.?

Do I face daily challenges??

Yep!

Am I going to let fear stop me from going after something??

…NEVER!!!?

So Happy Birthday to ME and any other May babies out there!?

You Rock and you can do ANYTHING you want, except, maybe join the military or compete in the Miss Universe pageant , I think there’s an age limit for those?!?

But anything else, you can DO IT!!!!

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