For my birthday last week, I treated myself to my first ever solo trip! I went to Playa del Carmen, Mexico and spent about five days on a resort there. I ended up meeting a lot of nice people and got to do some fun activities for the first time like parasailing, jet-skiing, and zumba on the beach. I would wake up each morning feeling so blessed to be in such a beautiful, relaxing, and peaceful environment. I thoroughly enjoyed being on my own, doing whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it. Nevertheless, throughout the trip, I was struck with a few realizations.
I realized that as I’ve gotten older, I may have gotten a little too accustomed to being alone. Don’t get me wrong, I think alone time is wonderful and necessary; however, I think that I’ve spent so much of my life isolating myself and basically living in my own world, that I’ve become too comfortable with solitude – to the point where it is and has been detrimental to my well-being.
Life is not meant to be lived alone. We’re not meant to experience the joys and sorrows of life by ourselves. We’re meant to interact with each other and be there for one another. We’re meant to celebrate with each other in times of triumph and lift each other up in times of tragedy. We’re meant to exchange ideas and opinions with one another and learn from each other. We’re meant to embrace the unconditional love God has for us and extend that to anyone and everyone we can. All this being said, and believing every word of it, I still find it difficult to allow myself to open up to others and let people in. I let the fear of people knowing my feelings, thoughts, dreams and aspirations drive me into an existence of lonesomeness and isolation. But I’ve realized that I can’t continue to let that fear keep me from making connections and building and strengthening relationships. What’s the worse that can happen? Being vulnerable will not kill me.
Another realization I had while on my trip was that I need to appreciate and celebrate my birthday more. As a child, I used to get really excited for each of my birthdays. I think that excitement stemmed from my dad’s enthusiasm when it came to birthdays, holidays, and celebrations in general. But I think as I got older and as life began to change and evolve (for instance, my dad traveling and living in Nigeria for periods of time and then later passing), the approaching of each birthday became less and less of a big deal to me. But birthdays are a big deal and they should be celebrated. The fact that you are being blessed with another year of life is something to rejoice about!
Birthdays are not just an indicator of getting older; they are a symbol of the possibility of continued growth, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. Not everyone makes it to their next birthday; and if you do, you should hold on to the hope that no matter how good or bad the previous year of your life was, this next one has the potential to be better. Birthdays are a time to reflect on God’s love and God’s love specifically for you. How amazing is it that He found it necessary to keep you? What incredible plans does He have for you? What wonderful goal does He want you to accomplish? Who’s life does He want you to touch? Who’s life does He want you to save?
You were born for a reason and you are still alive for a reason! Hold on to hope and hold on to faith, even if the rest of you has died!
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all he created.
– James 1:17-18
