Some people love to celebrate their birthday. Unfortunately, I’m not one of them. I wasn’t always this way, but with each birthday, my anxiety seems to increase as the day gets closer. I never liked being in the spotlight or drawing attention to myself but it has intensified to the point I wish I could sleep through the entire day. To make it worse, the more people ask me what I would like to do to celebrate my birthday, the worse I feel. What is wrong with me? I was searching for articles on procrastination this morning when I came across a video by Mel Robbins. In it she talks about procrastination and shares her own experience. It sounded like she was describing me. I did some additional searching and came across Mel Robbins’ podcast. My OCD wouldn’t allow me to listen to the latest post; I had to go back and start with the first episode. That episode is dated October 5, 2022 and Mel talks about how the episode aired on her 54th birthday. I couldn’t believe it. I mean, what are the odds she would be talking about her 54th birthday, the day before my 54th birthday! As I listened to the podcast I started to cry. It was as if she was speaking directly to me. Birthdays are a time when you reflect on the past year of your life and well, my last year was a shit show. The first of the three steps to a happier life, that she talk about is to begin by making a wish for something to come true in the next year. I thought this was appropriate since at some point tomorrow I’m sure I will be presented with a cake and asked to make a wish. I know it’s considered bad luck to talk about your birthday wish but chances are you won’t be reading this until after my birthday, so I feel safe sharing it with you. Since my son was born 17 years ago, my birthday wish every year is that he will be happy and healthy in the coming year. That will be my wish again this year, but I’m going to add a second part that I’ll call a goal. My goal for this next year is to work on the clutter in my life; both mental and physical. The profile picture of this site is not a stock photo. It is a picture of a pile of paper sitting on the chair in my office. It is one of many piles in my life that haunt me every day. I will keep searching for solutions and hopefully along the way I’ll find a way to start breaking the clutter cycle I’ve been stuck in. Cheers to another year of striving to be better!