Happy Birthday Blues

Well, here it is. Another year in the bag for yours truly, and I celebrated it with the vigor it deserved. I went to both of my jobs, and did all of my work, and would have been downright depressed, but...

I was able to receive a gift from my wife this morning before I left (and not that one, because I get that all the time cuz I'm lucky), and now I have the #1 gift on my birthday list.

I was greeted at my first job by a delivery of roses just like these. They are just like the picture, and a very nice surprise. If your woman hasn't bought you flowers recently, then you ought to give her a reason to.

I came to the second job here and was treated to cards from a great friend and his wife, and some assorted cheesecake. The chocolate that I tried was phenomenally good.

So, for a birthday that I worked all day, this wasn't too bad. I have a few underlying dark feelings about the day as a whole, but the people that love me managed to make things seem alright.

I have to wait till Sunday to celebrate my birthday with my family, consisting of the traditional meal of my choosing, and presents and cake deal-a-ma-jig. I'm sure that everyone will be overly generous for someone like me.

Overall, I'm a blessed man. I'm grateful for all that I've been given. Although my life is a bit of a lonely blur right now, I'm confident that there are better things on the horizon for me.

I suppose whether you have a good birthday, even if you're not in the best spirits, is in how you decide to look at things.

I could take my cue from a famous quote like this:

Death borders upon our birth, and our cradle stands in the grave. Our birth is nothing but our death begun.
- Bishop Hall

or I could do my best to put some perspective on things, and enjoy my day in the light of higher things and ideals like this:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;
The soul that rises with us, our life's star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar;
Not in entire forgetfulness,
And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come from God,
who is our home.
- William Wordsworth

I'm going with the poet, despite myself...