Birthday Wish For You

Chocolate Raspberry S'mores Birthday Cake from AbdulAziz and sister Ghaya.

Yep!

My 41st birthday is arriving, and I'm spending some time in reflection on life, love, and friendship.

I'm not hiding from 41. The Blog Silver Disobedience reminds me to embrace every moment of existence. I'm not 50+ like that blog, but I'm not fretting about where I am in my life either. Turning 40 last year helped set some ground rules for my own life...

... rules which will forever help me move forward for what I am willing to defend, for what I will comprise, and for what I am completely finished.

(Khallas (Arabic): completely finished, do not again talk about it,

like an-Italian-Grandmother-saying-do-not-speak-of-it.)

Birthday weekend started with my heaviest teaching schedule day leading into 13 parent conferences on Thursday and debriefing with the work crew after, day at my favorite St. Regis beach Friday with "Aladdin" (yep, anonymity), dinner with my Doha Besties Friday evening, and going with some other friends on a Saturday yacht trip (read those words again...), courtesy of my dear friend, Captain Daniel Gregg. (Anonymity what it is here on the blog, a reference to the story "The Ghost and Mrs. Muir").

My Captain Daniel Gregg...

The boat was a mile long... 75 feet.

The Marina, under construction, but still glamorous.

Swimming in turquoise water with Joe, my first Doha friend - we met in immigration

last August as new teachers together!

"Aladdin", who to be honest, invited himself for the day, and I was happy for the company.

I'm so blessed. I recognize it, honor it, and send out my gratitude.

I remember anticipating my 40th birthday. I love new beginnings and I could NOT wait to spend the weekend in silent reflection, at my Cinderella Doha

Palace, St. Regis. I celebrated with new Qatar friends, two overnights at the hotel, swimming, resting on the beach, ordered myself flowers, swanky drinks in crazy places, and one beautiful ocean sunrise view from my room.

I opened my eyes to the birthday morning sunrise, in an oversized fluffy pillow pile "bed", looked out the top floor windows, thinking -

"...an entire decade is over. That was my 30s. It was one incredible journey and it's over. Time for something new."

@ChristopherFerry

So, here I am.

41 and the luckiest girl in the whole world...

A caring family.

A fabulous career.

Genuine friendships.

Needs of the heart and soul, but not material.

A growing playlist of inspirational song writers and singers from countries I never expected to know their music.

A full calendar of soul enhancing activity events.

Personal Confidence.

The best possible version of myself....

And that is my wish for you.

A life lived, leading to the best possible version of yourself.

You owe it to yourself to live with purpose.

No mistakes, just adventures.

Dave Matthews: #41

I'm only this far, and only tomorrow leads the way...

My fridge. I kind of like all the crazy on it... lower right, crystal ball, "you don't want to know"

Photos of my nieces, cards and letters, a full calendar and trinkets from #MyDohaLife

See the black card, upper left: (and #InkPug top right)

Live with intention.

Walk to the edge.

Listen hard.

Practice wellness.

Play with abandon.

Laugh.

Choose with no regret.

Continue to learn.

Appreciate your friends.

Do you what you love.

Live as if this is all there is.

... If you wanna be in the footlong club, you gotta do footlong stuff. #InkPug

(also, The greatest mistake in life you can make is to be continually fearing you will make one.)

Top left card I purchased myself from the gift shop at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital when my entire life was unraveling. I saw it and the "greatest mistakes in life" card. I knew when that adventure story wrote its last sentence, I'd need those mantras to move ahead. They moved me all the way to The Middle East, to an incredible school, whose community told me at conferences how valued I was - not just a teacher but as a human... and person.

UN Day: with Noora, Hamza, and Dania.

GAAQ Front Patio

Kodaly Workshop 3-Day-Weekend, Doha College, Completion Certificate

My wish for you?

Live with intention. What are you intending to do with today, tomorrow, next week?

Walk to the edge of every idea, goal, and mindset you have. Walk forward. See how much farther you can walk. Walk until you hurt, pause for those who have walked farther, and keep walking. Change paths, keep walking.

Listen hard. To yourself, to others, to ideas you don't like, to ideas you never thought, to ideas that shake you, to new ideas, ideas revisited, ideas you are sick of hearing.

Practice wellness. Self-care, mindfulness, concern for others. "Well, necessary" to maintain composure.

Play with abandon. Not the minds or hearts or abilities of people. Ever. Do not play with people. It's hurtful and there are so many more things to play. Sports, instruments and music, "playdoh", card and board games, play with friends. But do not ever play with the minds or hearts or abilities of people.

Laugh. At yourself mostly.

Choose with no regret. Make your decision. Own it. No scuttlebutt. Pick and go with it. Trust your gut.

Continue to learn. Study and perfect your craft.

Appreciate your friends. Their ideas, work habits, needs, their souls, their inspirations. Appreciate them AND let them know you do, all the time.

Do you what you love. Love what you do. If you don't love it, don't do it. If you don't do it, then don't love it either because it's a waste of space to love it and not do it.

Live as if this is all there is.

Because this is all you get.

To quote myself, "I have a lot of things to do, and waiting around for something, someone, or some idea isn't one of those things."

So live. With regulated abandon.

Total abandon could be too much... but hey, "you do you".