I recently had a birthday and I have to admit, it’s not something I’m happy about.  I’m much happier celebrating birthday’s than the alternative, but I’m inching my way closer to a milestone birthday that I’m not looking forward to celebrating.  Life is a series of milestones and bumps in the road with the occasional drive off a cliff, or an even better drive into the sunset.

When I think of my life, it hasn’t exactly been easy.  Nothing has been handed to me, but most of my struggles have been because of choices I’ve made.  I rarely take the easy road.  I fought hard to put myself through college out-of-state, when I was told by my parents if I stayed in state they would pay for it.  When I graduated, I picked up and moved by myself to a big city I had always dreamed of living.  I could’ve easily stayed in the city I went to college, or moved back home, but there were dreams that needed to come true.

I got married.  My marriage was far from easy.  I chose to stay in a relationship with a fellow Scorpio when maybe I should’ve chosen someone with a more compatible sign?  I had a friend read my sign when my ex-husband and I first got together.  The take away was that when it was good, it was going to be good, but when it was bad, it was going to be really, really bad.  All true.

Getting pregnant wasn’t easy, then again this is one area I had no control over.  Being pregnant wasn’t easy and neither was the delivery.  As my sister said, “You got screwed with the pregnancy genes.”  My newborn wasn’t easy – she had one the of worst cases of colic you could imagine.

My career hasn’t been easy.  I was never handed promotions or raises or jobs, even though I’m probably one of the brighter ones in the room.  I say that because I’m now realizing it and I realize how I’ve mismanaged it all these years.  Personal enlightenment is a wonderful thing.

Regardless of how easy or difficult life is, I have had a little help from my friends.  I had amazing friends in high school and college, I met amazing friends when I started my new life in my new city{s}.  Most of my friends took the marriage and parenthood path before me, so I commiserated with friends over marriage woes, and pregnancy woes, and colic woes – “Just remember it’s not going to last forever.  In a couple months, it will all be over and then it will be something else.”

My friends helped keep me sane during my divorce, and now after it.  They are helping me as I start over, and most importantly laughing with me at the insanity of it all.  They are full of advice – sometimes I take it, sometimes I don’t – and have saved me from myself at times.  When I say, “I need to get out of town,” they say “what weekend and where do you want to go?”

So, in my birthday month, in a year of self-re-discovery, as we celebrate giving thanks, I will say thanks to you!  Thank you to my friends from Vegas, to L.A., to New York, to Phoenix, to Denver.  Thank you for sharing the journey with me, because I truly couldn’t have done it without you.  I would list you all, but it would take so long I would get kicked off the stage, and God forbid I forget someone because that would totally suck.

Merci beaucoup!

xoxo