Happy Birthday to Me!  I’m enjoying the cascade of Facebook birthday wishes. Such a nice feature of Facebook. I’m not always good about wishing people happy birthday on Facebook, so an extra thanks, with a touch of guilt on my part, to those who took the time to wish me a happy birthday.

On this day, I should be reflecting on what I’ve accomplished so far in my life, and think about what I would like to accomplish in the future, with G-d’s help.

So far, I spent the morning with one of my kids taking a trip to Target (his request, no joke. I’m glad I’ve raised them to have low standards, haha). I practiced a little piano and now I’m writing this post and then I’m off to pick up my baby and take him to a rehearsal for the sixth grade graduation that I’m playing for.

When exactly I’m supposed to introspect is beyond me. There’s no time!

So here’s my quick, brief introspection: Life is short and unpredictable. Sometimes we are floundering and just struggling to stay afloat. Sometimes our lives seem full of hardship, relationships take more effort than they seem worth, our children, if we’re lucky to have them, don’t listen and just take take take all the time, sucking us dry.

Other times, we see the massive amount of blessing that is showered on us. We are able to make dinner, and to not feel frustrated or guilty when our kids still prefer cereal. We are able to wash our face and brush our teeth before collapsing into bed. We are connecting to others, both to the most important people in our lives and also those on the periphery. We are connecting to G-d, to meaning, to life, to eternity.

My bracha to you (yeah, it’s not my Hebrew birthday, but whatever, I’m still giving you a bracha, whatever that’s worth) is that when we are in the “up” phase of life, we should remember to extend a hand to those around us and lift them up. We should spread our love, our joy, our strength to everyone around us.

And when we’re down, we should look to those who are up and not begrudge them their upness, but remember that everyone’s life is different, full of ups and downs and know that this too shall pass. Gam zeh ya’avor. And maybe even learn something from it.

Okay. And on that note, I wrote something over on Hevria today about first impressions, putting people into categories, unrelatable people, and names that are full of consonants. Since it’s my birthday (shameless request to follow), please feel free to read, comment and share my post. Thank you! Have a beautiful day!!!