Day 13

Copyright Diana Shay Diehl. 
One of many gifts today from my children. My son made gourmet, homemade pizza for dinner. My other son and I will do a hike with friends and dogs this weekend. My daughter lives across the country so a phone call and/or Skyping will have to suffice. Funny how we need such clamoring and noise to celebrate when we are younger. Now, quiet appreciation in familiar surroundings make for a fine celebration of another year for living...


You see, today is my birthday. My 53rd birthday to be exact. That is a lot of time to accumulate experiences and memories. 53 years - sounds like such a long time. I've lived better than 1/2 of my life. What a sobering consideration........

What could I possibly highlight about my life? I've rewritten this post 4 times already. TMI? Too shallow? Too sentimental? Really - who would it matter to except me.....

Copyright Diana Shay Diehl
On my 50th birthday, I stepped out of the shower very early that morning to find this breakfast my daughter had made me before she left for high school - it was her senior year.  When she was in elementary school, she made me a special breakfast to rival any local restaurant for Mother's Day.  If she had all the money in the world to buy any gift,  those would still be my favorite ones.

In a nutshell, I'd say too much time, in the first 1/2 century, was spent on worrying about making others happy, not being good enough,  or trying to prove.....something. Just what, I haven't figured that out yet. I fell in love and lost - first time through death; second time through incompatibility. I discovered who my real friends were and it's not always the ones you may think. I grew guts and stood on my own 2 feet without hardening my heart...

An interesting thing happens when you hit 50. You stop caring what others think of you and realize it really isn't any of your business anyway.  If "they" have time to waste on judgement and ill-informed gossip, well then, that's just too bad for them. Me? My bucket list is growing and it's time to get a move on while my body can still do pretty much what it's been able to do the first 1/2 century - just a little slower and with more asprin.

Copyright Diana Shay Diehl. 
The year I turned 50, a student came in with a bag full of these balloon animals. Priceless! They graced my classroom for about 2 weeks.

And just what do I want to do with whatever time I've been gifted in this lifetime?
(In no particular order...)

Hike more trails off the beaten path.
Explore a bit more of this great World with my children - or at least listen to their adventures as I share my own.
Breathe.
More road trips.
Fall in love - again. This time for keeps. Hey, 3rd time is a charm, right?
Hug more.
Kiss more.
Take more pictures.
More road trips.
Spend less time cleaning dust bunnies.
Breathe.
Continue to make every day fun not just for me but for my students (or is that the other way around...?)
Learn to play something other than "Twinkle, twinkle little star" on my violin.
Spend more time with friends - face to face.
Listen to my children without the urge to always give advice.
Feel gratitude.
Be open to new adventures.
Breathe.

My treasures collected from the first 50 years:

Copyright Diana Shay Diehl

I look forward to seeing what treasures await discovering these next 50 years....

Life is good.

Comments

Rosa said…
Happy birthday sweet Diana...I am such a soft...I shed a tear reading this. So happy I know you Diana!! Happy happy and loving birthday!
January 14, 2012
desert argonauta said…
I'm catching up! Your photos are stunning! and I'm enjoying the conversation...especially on turning 50. The year I turned 50 (the same year as Disneyland),I chose to keep a yearlong birthday journal--about 80 pages( 90% drivel and 10% valuable insight)--and never stopped!
Janis
January 21, 2012
Diana said…
Rosa....such sweet things to say! Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to read my posts. Big hugs.....
January 22, 2012
Diana said…
Thanks Janis! I'm sure when I look back on this project, I may say the same about drivel verses valuable insight!
January 22, 2012
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