Happy Birthday

By Cheryl Hansen

It’s not my birthday. Yet. But it’s there. Sneaking up on me. Ready to pounce any day now. Or in three months. But still. 

I’m not sure at what age we shift from counting the days till a birthday with excitement… to counting the days till a birthday with… something other than excitement. 

Birthdays are like New Years Day for me. It’s when I take a good hard look at myself and evaluate how I’m doing. Am I healthy? Active? At peace? Taking care of me and those I love? Learning? Laughing? Breathing? 

I’ve been asking the questions earlier than usual, which may be a good thing. It gives me time to stack the deck in my favor. It’s like getting the questions to a big test three months in advance. How can I lose? 

So I’m on it. I am determined to make my way to the right answers. Along the way—or maybe this is the way—I want to do a few other things, too. 

• I will log 200 miles walking between now and then. It’s like giving myself three months to walk to Aspen. Easy, right? It comes out to just over two miles a day. 
• I will be able to do (at least) 10 perfect push-ups (the kind with my knees OFF the floor).
• I will be able to do a two-minute plank (without crying). 
• I will add podFLOW 2 to my yogaPOD lineup with confidence. Let’s shoot for completing 3-4 classes in that level by my birthday. 
• I will log 300 minutes of meditation in Headspace (I do have a little crush on that guy, so this shouldn’t be that hard). 
• I want to learn how to play Jason Mraz’s “I’m Yours” on the ukulele (I’ve just started learning it alongside my 7-year-old. I know exactly three chords so far.)

So there. I said it. It’s out there. None of this can be accomplished overnight (at least not by me), so I’ll have to put in the time and work. And when I do, I’m sure I will have a very happy birthday. 

AFTER the plank.