Mojo Monday ~ How Do You Celebrate Your Birthday?

Mojo Monday was born in May 2010, so we are celebrating her 3rd Birthday this month.  I wanted to share some of the things she has taught me over the course of the past three years.

She taught me that when you have a dream or goal that you need to set aside the time to do the work to reach those dreams and goals.  For example if you want to be a writer you have to write.  Thinking about being a writer or talking about being a writer some day will not move you very far towards your goal.  You have to actually write.

She taught me more about getting my joy from the creating and the journey, not from the responses I get (or don’t get) to what I created or wrote.   There are important lessons to be learned about the importance of internal approval rather than external approval.

She provided wonderful opportunities to meet, interact and get to know better more of the brilliant and creative Cosmic Cowgirls on the Rodeo, where I also post my Mojo Monday discussions.

She showed me that commitment and applied discipline to a regular practice feels good and can build one’s confidence to say “YES” to other opportunities.

Here’s to you Mojo Monday!

Contemplating birthdays also led me to wonder about how we choose to celebrate our own birthdays.

Do you celebrate your birthday?  Do you make a big deal out of it and throw parties for yourself?  

Or in contrast do you play it down, or (gasp) ignore it?   

Is your birthday a time of reflection for you or is it just another day?  

How does your aging affect you?  Does getting older inspire you to fulfill some kind of bucket list?  

Have you ever had the thought "I'm to old to do ______________."  

Take a few minutes and watch this very inspiring episode of Amy Poehler's Smart Girls that is about a woman named Ellaraino, who is famous for being an inspirational storyteller and public speaker.

In the interview with Poehler, Ellaraino talks about her great-grandmother's incredible journey to freedom after being a slave in America for most of her life. At 86-years-old, she learned how to read and write, despite being told by everyone around her that she shouldn't bother.

“Reading and writing she called her 'freedom,' and she enjoyed that freedom for over 30 years because she lived to be 116," Ellaraino said. “Don’t you let anybody tell you you can’t do what you want to do, when you want to do it."

Amy Poehler offered her own words of wisdom to viewers who may be struggling to achieve their dreams.

“Throughout life, no matter how old you are sometimes you keep telling yourself what you think was supposed to happen in your life is not going to happen," she said. "And that happens in our lives whether we’re 16 or whether we’re 116.”