It’s Your Birthday? Why You Should Celebrate It!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by Patty Sherry

It’s Your Birthday? Celebrate It.

I’m not one to say you should do anything, but having just celebrated my 47th birthday on January 20th I do have a message about birthdays:

If it’s your birthday, celebrate it!

Some people have the opinion that we make too much out of birthdays: that a birthday is no big deal, it’s just another day of the year, or it becomes an excuse to feel depressed for being another year older, and that birthdays are triggers for all sorts of comparisons.

Maybe much of this is true.

Yet, I am forever the birthday romantic optimist. I love celebrating birthdays. I love my birthday.

I love celebrating ME!

I didn’t always though.

In fact, I found it very hard to be able to give when it came to giving to myself. I was so much better at giving to others! I’d make a big deal about their birthday, yet hesitate to do the same about my own.
I’ve let my birthday be a reason to feel bad, it’s been a trigger to remind me I was one year older and yet not a step closer to something I had wanted.

In the past, I’ve even tried to convince myself that my birthday wasn’t such a big deal. That usually resulted in an epic fail! This way of thinking usually stemmed from some type of feeling of rejection. Let’s face it, rejection sucks!

Or also down inside there is this belief that it’s somehow selfish or wrong to gloat on yourself too much. That others won’t like you if you do.

So when I hear people say things like, “Birthdays, what’s the big deal?” or “Birthdays, who cares?” I can see the bit of attitude through that facade.

And I see fear.

Because down inside we all it to matter that we are here.

What day is that more evident than the day we were born?

But if you really want to matter, I say it is important that it matters to YOU first.
Which is why I say, “Celebrate your birthday!”

YOUR birthday is the unique day you decided to join this world, and participate in this human experience with others. Celebrate it! Celebrate you. Matter to YOU.

Don’t spend the day working late. Do something that makes you feel good. Eat a nice meal off of a pretty plate. Light some candles. Wear something that makes you feel beautiful. Honor the very fact that you are here, because that very fact is something to celebrate!

Make YOUR happiness important.

It was wonderful for me to receive so many birthday wishes and messages from others. Something as tiny as a FB “Happy Birthday” really touched my heart. But I know that all of this ‘receiving” of love had to start with me giving it to myself.

And believe me, for last few years I’ve been working on it. Self love, that is.

Making my happiness important.

…..because I matter. So do you.

There’s Nothing to Fix, Because You’ve Never Been Broken ( but it sure can feel that way!)

Posted on January 3, 2012 by Patty Sherry

“You don’t realize how whole you really are, until you’ve felt broken” – Patty Sherry, Founder of Share Your Love Story.

These words ring so true for me, I didn’t realize how strong I really was, until I felt at my weakest.

It is in these moments of my deepest despair that I show myself what I am really made of. But going through it can be so damn hard. I’m tough, yet sensitive.

We’ve all been there at least one time in our lives. Weak. Defeated. Damaged. Broken. I say we are really not literally any of these, but it sure can feel as if we are.

My mind logically can wrap itself around the concept that I’m not broken, but my body can feel differently. I’m starting to realize, the body is sometimes last to catch up to such things. It still feels.

In my broken moments, my heart has actually ached in my chest. Out of nowhere the feeling seems to flood in. The weight upon me seems to almost suffocate me, and it actually hurts to breathe. I know this death type feeling is not exclusive to me, because friends have described this same physicality. Feeling broken. Heart hurting.

And it feels like that pain will just never end. Can you relate?

It’s easy to see why feeling such emotional pain seems so wrong, and how naturally we seek to “fix” it when something goes wrong! I too have set out on that path to “fix my life and fix myself” with the intention that I would become more enlightened and discover my wholeness somehow. I had the belief that somehow I was incomplete, missing something.

My epiphany however, is that “fixing” anything is the real illusion here. It’s change we seek, not fixing. We are born complete. My wholeness has not been discovered on any path where I was “seeking” it but rather in my recognition of the misconception that I have been broken.

Broken is just a feeling. It feels so real. It can mess with you, it can be intense, and in that moment it can feel like you will NEVER feel anything else. Broken however is temporary.

Life can bring many moments that leave you feeling broken. There are let downs, failures, break ups, people dying. I’ve had my share of all of these: a failed business, ended relationships, both of my parents dying. Each time even my soul felt a level of being defeated. My body weak. I felt broken.

During the darkest moments I couldn’t imagine feeling better; many times all I could do was cry. And surrender. Talk gently to my body. Allow the feelings. Breathe. Then repeat as necessary. I used everything I knew and had learned spiritually, logically, and intuitively to shift.

Eventually I changed. My soul felt renewed. My body didn’t hurt. I didn’t feel broken. I felt “whole” and happy. I’ve come to know that from any pain, happiness can emerge. Almost magically. It always does. Sometimes I just forget this and need reminding…

I’m never really broken. Neither are you. It just feels that way sometimes.

Patty Sherry is a writer, inspirational speaker, and the founder of Share Your Love Story. She is the owner of Arabella LLC, a Self- empowerment, Personal Growth Coaching Company. For more info please visit my website or join me on Facebook.

2012 A New Beginning Is Also An Ending

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Patty Sherry

I love the newness of the first day of the year, it brings with it that feeling of new beginnings and new chances to get it “right” ( even though I don’t believe I get can get it wrong) January 1st brings with it new possibilities for change.

I think this is why we are so attracted to the New Years Celebration. A new year brings new hope. This excites me!

But new beginnings go hand in hand with endings; there is a literal and energetic balance of the two. I can’t “begin” to feel happy if there is not some type of ‘ending” to my anger/sadness. I’m not talking about a complete dissolution of it though. To expect to never be angry or sad is unrealistic, but a little less angry/sad…? Hell yes, that is do-able.

What I am talking about is a mere sliding of the scale. To move that scale, I like to put myself on an energetic diet. I do this by starting to clear away some of the emotional crap that can weigh me down. I am only successful with this if I am willing to look within.

The first of the year is a natural motivator to begin to let go of any limiting beliefs and ideas that keep me stuck repeating the same old patterns. It’s the perfect time to say, “Enough”

Enough of the bullshit. Enough of the past regrets. Enough of the drama that doesn’t serve me. Enough of the ”fill in the blank, what ever it is” that can hold me back from the good stuff in my life that I want.

The first of the year is the perfect time to slide the scale toward what IS working. It’s the perfect new beginning for more of it, and what comes hand in hand with this is ending what doesn’t.

With all new beginnings come endings, and new beginnings. The power to all of this is always within your hands.

Happy New Year!