Tomorrow is my birthday!

The celebrations, though, started today and will continue until at least next Wednesday (a whole week  of celebrations).

E is away at the moment and won’t be back until next Wednesday so I’ll be celebrating with him when he gets back.

Today I had afternoon tea with his parents and Amma and Uppa. We had a delicious cake and I was given some wonderful presents including homemade cookies and cake, a massage cushion for my office chair, a vintage leather satchel bag, home knitted cowls and some delicious teas.

I haven’t taken photos of all the presents and I don’t really have the energy to now but I’m definitely very happy and grateful for all the love and kindness that has gone into making the first day of my birthday celebrations so great.

Each of these gifts takes into account my needs and values. I am grateful for the massage cushion, as I have definitely found using my mums to be helpful, the homemade and vintage gifts for their thoughtfulness and sustainable use of materials, and the teas because tea is always a good thing, especially in winter!

Today I also had a delicious lunch out with my brother and got my own TENS machine (I have to return my Physio’s one next week). This has made the day very long but full of special moments for me, I just need to remind myself I still need to pace myself through the rest of the week.

It’s also one of my best friend’s birthday today, so I dropped a present off at her house for her as well.

Tomorrow is my actual birthday and for some reason I decided that would be a great day to see how I go with coping with a day at “work”. I’ve registered to attend a networking event that I would normally attend as part of my job. It goes from 9.30 to 3.30, which means leaving home around 8.10 am to get the bus! I’ve lined up my brother to come pick me up if it turns out I can’t make it through the day but my plan is to try and pace myself while I’m out and see how I go.

I’ll be having dinner and spending the night at mums that night.

Saturday will be about celebrating with friends. My birthday present to myself was a ticket to go see Jane Goodall talk that morning at the zoo with one of my friends and then a few of us will be having a quiet celebration at one of their houses.

… Given all of that, I believe next week will be all about recovery!

I’ll still be here and will aim to share some more about the exciting new ventures planned for the next few months but I will be taking it slowly and playing it by ear a bit.

Thank you to each and everyone of you who has, and will, make the celebration of turning another year older one of happiness, love and kindness. When I look back over the last year, to where I was at this stage, I realise how far I’ve come. Last year I was only just beginning to realise what this illness meant for me, I hadn’t been diagnosed and I didn’t really understand that it was chronic. Today I’ve accepted my condition and I’m learning, in leaps and bounds, how to live a sustainable and fulfilling life WITH my illness. I am no longer fighting, instead I’m going along for the ride and seeing where life takes me.Until next week, have fun and enjoy life but don’t forget to look after yourself!

How do you celebrate your birthday?

How do you manage to pace yourself when there are several events on?

How far have you come in the last year?