Birthdays

I am not good at celebrating my birthday. Each year, I try something new, and, each year, it fails. This year was an epic failure. I thought if no one knew it was my birthday, I would not have to worry about people feeling obligated to do something simply for the reason of celebrating it. In my mind, birthdays are best spent with best friends and/or family. They know you well, understand you, and it is completely normal and natural to do something on your birthday. They celebrate you because they care and they want to share their time with you on your day. Most everyone else just wants to throw you a party because it's your birthday and somehow parties are the birthday standard. Maybe I'm wrong, but to me it seems like those celebrations are less for you than they are for them.

Anyway, I thought I had a few good friends that I would spend my birthday with, so, I planned to make a big dinner for them. On the same night of my birthday, there was a dual stake activity at the aquatics center. I'm not a public pool person ever since working at Seven Peaks and was on the fence about going, but with friends who said they would miss the activity for my dinner, I got excited and planned out and prepared for my birthday dinner. How fickle the minds of the young, for in less than a day, they changed their plans. It was as if they completely forgot they had committed to come to dinner. That is one of my big pet peeves too. I cannot stand the blatant disregard people have these days for commitments they have made, especially when they disregard an obligation because they found something else to do, which, in this case, was swimming all day at a friend's house and then going to swim more at a public pool (still working on figuring that one out). Since the dinner was not happening, I went to the stake pool thing for the free pizza, had some good conversations, had "Happy Birthday" sung to me, then had the rest of my birthday plans cancelled on me in favor of something else once again, so I went and watched a movie with a group that was having a movie night. I was not thrilled to be there, but I did not want to be in my room alone either.

Finally, the clock hit midnight and the day was over. But the weirdness of the world was not, because the same people who cancelled on dinner later said they wished I had been more vocal about my birthday so they could have made it more special for me. Well guys, I did. The only people I told about my birthday were the people I wanted to spend it with. I even said all I want for my birthday is to spend good time with good friends. And people wonder why I do not celebrate...

I still refuse to conform, so once again, next year I plan on a low-key birthday. Though this time I may leave the country to make it easier.

To the one friend who sent me an awesome birthday picture text, that was the closest thing to a card I got for my birthday. It made me smile. And my song of the day today is dedicated to you for sending it. "Thank You Friends" by: Big Star.
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