Peace on a birthday

Life is a circle. The end is the beginning, going round and round.

Day by day, a year comes and goes. Today is my birthday. Today's end is the beginning of the rest of my life. I take with me what I have learned today. I am the same and not the same, having learned more than the day before.

As long as I am alive, I continue to wrestle with questions, seeking the answers, and solving problems. Let me be gentle with myself and with others, choosing to respond with non-judging love and acceptance instead of unrealistic demands of perfection. I attended a family get together today for our aging Grandmother in a nursing home, and no one remembered it was my birthday.

I have found a blueprint for life. My preoccupation with not enough as well as with too much has led us to a spiritual solution. Each day brings a new opportunity to express my own development - a more patient response to others short commings, the ability to empathize with a child's shyness, the acceptance of a personal disappointment. Today is just another day to learn how to be serene, to nurture my body and my spirit so that I may function as an integrated spirit with my God. I will continue to learn and grow toward my development as a human being.

I will begin and end today by listening to my inner voice. All is well today and Happy Birthday to me! I am 58 today.