Show Transcript

[TRANSCRIPT]

0:00:00 - (Kevin Lowe): Are we celebrating the things that we haven't done? No. Are we celebrating all the dreams that didn't happen? No. Are we celebrating the life that we thought we were going to have? It don't. Are we somehow celebrating that craziness? No. What we are celebrating is life. What we are celebrating is our opportunity to be here with our family another year. What we are celebrating is another chance at making this year better than the last.

0:00:43 - (Kevin Lowe): What's up, my friend and welcome to grit grace and inspiration. I am your host, Kevin Lowe. 20 years ago, I awoke from a life saving surgery only to find that I was left completely blind. And since that day, I've learned a lot about life, a lot about living, and a lot about myself. And here on this podcast, I want to share those insights with you. Because, friend, if you are still searching for your purpose, still trying to understand why or still left searching for that next right path to take, we'll consider this to be your stepping stone to get you from where you are to where you want to be.

0:01:21 - (Kevin Lowe): What's up, my friend and welcome to grit grace and inspiration. Episode number 224. If you have not joined the insiders the Grit Grace and inspiration insiders, well, I'm encouraging you to sign up today. You get to be part of my weekly newsletter that arrives on your emails front porch each and every Wednesday morning just in time to give you the boost you need to get through those midweek slumps. Head on over to gritgraceinspiration.

0:01:55 - (Kevin Lowe): comInsider or check out the link in today's show notes where you can sign up today. So, friend, we got to talk about something. We have got to get real because today I am talking about birthdays. Birthdays as adults and how they just ain't quite like they used to be. Now, today's topic is not what I had originally intended to record because, well, I had a whole nother topic perfectly aligned with the schedule of the podcast.

0:02:32 - (Kevin Lowe): And then though, I had this weighing heavy on my heart because at the time that I'm recording today's episode, I am five days away from my 37th birthday and I can't help but think that I'm not the only one who feels this weird thing in your heart when it comes to your birthday. Now, this is what's strange, is that I have always been a person who loves my birthday. Matter of fact, I have always made it perfectly clear to my family that my birthday is not just a day, it is an entire month of celebrating.

0:03:11 - (Kevin Lowe): And I have tried my best to be sure that the celebration does just that. Well, ironically enough, I've noticed over the past several years I've kind of fallen out of that groove a little bit. I've almost become one of those people who sometimes feel like not even celebrating my birthday, which if you knew me on a personal level. If you've been around me for my life, you would say, what? Really, Kev?

0:03:44 - (Kevin Lowe): You not wanting to celebrate your birthday. But yeah, it's true. And that's what I thought I wanted to talk about. Today is something that I feel like all of us deal with every single year. Is our birthday another representation of another year past? More opportunities had maybe not had. More mistakes that were made, more dreams that didn't come true, more wishes that never happened. That's what I'm talking about. Today, I'm getting real. I'm getting honest with how I'm feeling in the hopes that you can relate and we can figure out a way to maybe make some good out of this weird, crazy birthday conundrum that we find ourselves in.

0:04:31 - (Kevin Lowe): So with that said, let's dive into today's episode. So the honest truth is that when my birthday was coming up this year, I've been excited about it. I've actually been really looking forward to it. And I've been thinking in my head about ways to celebrate. Typically, for me, that means something awesome. A super nice, fancy dinner, somewhere nice. For some reason, I've been craving an awesome steakhouse, an amazing bone in ribeye, something big, something amazing, which, I don't know, it's just kind of been something I've been thinking about.

0:05:11 - (Kevin Lowe): So in my mind, that's been how I would be celebrating my birthday, is dinner out with the family. But as the birthday has come closer and closer, there becomes those other feelings. Well, I don't know, is that really the right choice to go spend a ton of money on a single meal? I don't know. Maybe not. Maybe we'll just do something more practical. Maybe we'll just do dinner at one of just their normal favorite restaurants.

0:05:42 - (Kevin Lowe): It doesn't need to be anything fancy. And then, lo and behold, next thing you know, I'm sitting here today thinking about my birthday, because now I've got people interested, wondering, kev, what are we doing for your birthday? And now I'm kind of in that mindset like, I don't want to do anything. I literally sat there thinking, you know, I'd almost just rather get takeout and just stay at home. But then I literally had to sit there and stop and be like, whoa, whoa, whoa, kev, what are you doing?

0:06:12 - (Kevin Lowe): Why are you thinking that you're going to allow a single day, a Thursday? That was a slow day. You didn't have much going on, and you're going to allow your mind to start thinking in that way? Yeah, that's what happens. I try to keep myself busy, because sometimes, in my opinion, when you're not busy, when you're not focused on things and it's quiet for myself, my mind starts going to the wrong places.

0:06:41 - (Kevin Lowe): And sure enough, that is what has happened today. My mind has been thinking about all the ways to discount my 37th birthday of, well, why spend the money? Why do anything really elaborate? It's just the number 37. It's not like something monumental, like 40. And yet that goes against everything that I'm all about. It goes against everything that I try to promote here on the podcast in the fact that we should not only celebrate birthdays on an even year.

0:07:18 - (Kevin Lowe): No. We should celebrate every year. Because every year is a gift. And when I think about it and I think about a birthday cake and I think about all those candles, every year older, another candle gets added. And it's so easy to look at all of those candles and be reminded of all the years that you feel like have been wasted because, well, as kids, we have this idea of what life is going to be like when we grow up, when we become adults.

0:07:49 - (Kevin Lowe): And then I don't know if I'm the only one, but once you become an adult, you can't help but think, this can't possibly be what it feels like to be an adult. I don't feel like an adult. I don't feel like I have stuff figured out. I don't feel like anybody should look up to me or trust me or anything because, heck, I'm just trying to survive in this life. And the other thing, those dreams, as kids, we dream about the future.

0:08:21 - (Kevin Lowe): We have our dream career, we have our dreams all mapped out. And I can't help but think that I'm not the only one who those dreams never came true. No. Because reality got in the way. Life got in the way, and we're now in some crazy, screwed up mess that they call life, that we're just trying to keep our head above water. And so you wonder, well, Kev, gosh, when you put it like that, no wonder you're sad and depressed about your birthday.

0:08:55 - (Kevin Lowe): I know, that's what I'm saying. But I just can't help but wonder, why is it that so many of us get so sad and depressed on our birthday? Because here's the truth of the matter. When I really started to think about it. Are we celebrating the things that we haven't done? No. Are we celebrating all the dreams that didn't happen? No. Are we celebrating the life that we thought we were going to have? It don't. Are we somehow celebrating that craziness?

0:09:31 - (Kevin Lowe): No. What we are celebrating is life. What we are celebrating is our opportunity to be here with our family another year. What we are celebrating is another chance at making this year better than the last. And for myself, I can tell you one thing that's pretty darn awesome. It's pretty darn awesome to have a starting point and an ending point. And I feel like that's our birthday. Each one of us gets a day out of every year to start over, to start new. We've got a new year ahead of us.

0:10:10 - (Kevin Lowe): For myself, well, I can get down in the dumps about where my life is, or I can get excited and say, you know what? I'm about to make one heck of a comeback, because maybe this year is going to be my year. And, yeah, I could think to myself, well, Kev, you've been saying that for how many years? And, well, we're not going to focus on that. We're focusing forward. Remember, we're trying to stay positive, so no getting ourselves down.

0:10:39 - (Kevin Lowe): We're focusing forward on what can be, what will be, and let's fight for it. Let's make it happen. And so, well, I guess I've kind of recorded today's episode as a pep talk to myself to remind myself that, you know what, Kev? Even though it's not like you thought it would be, that doesn't mean that it still can't be great. And that, my friend, is the essence of today's message. Even though life may not be like you thought, that still doesn't mean that it can't be great.

0:11:14 - (Kevin Lowe): So for my birthday, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'm not sure if it will be at a fancy steakhouse or if it will indeed be takeout and watching TV at home with my family. But whichever thing I choose, I guarantee you this, is that I'm going to be sure that it's something that I choose, that I want to do, that I'm excited about. I'm not going to allow the part of my mind to get in the way to start clouding my excitement. I'm not going to allow being depressed about this birthday to dictate what I do for it.

0:11:52 - (Kevin Lowe): No, I want to be sure that when I'm making a decision about where we go, what we do, that it's what I want to do. Because I believe that no matter how old we are, we deserve to be excited. We deserve to have awesome things happen in our lives, especially on our birthdays. So whether your birthday is coming up or it's still a ways away, I want to encourage you to get excited about it, to start planning big for it. Because you know what? Why is it that we only go big when we're kids?

0:12:28 - (Kevin Lowe): Why can't we have big birthday parties as adults? We can, and we should. So well, let this be the rally cry for us adults to take back control of the birthdays, whether we got to put on some stupid little cone shaped hats and get out those little things you blew on and the little tape went out and made a little noise. I don't know what they're called party favors. Whether we got to bust that out and have a silly cake, whatever it is, or maybe we can kind of do a birthday in a little bit more grown up way.

0:13:03 - (Kevin Lowe): Anyways, the point is to celebrate, to be reminded that birthdays are something to celebrate. They're not something to be sad about. And even though that's easier said than done, let's work on it, because I know I'm going to. I've got five days until my 37th birthday, and I am ready for it, and I'm ready to get excited about it. And I'm excited that you, my listener, helped me to get excited about it by getting on here and talking to you about this whole birthday situation.

0:13:38 - (Kevin Lowe): So with that said, I'll see you next week. I got a birthday to get ready for. You don't.