Lisa O Engelhardt - Happy Birthday Therapy

Happy Birthday Therapy

Lisa Engelhardt

Illustrated by R. W. Alley

Abbey Press

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Text copyright 1993 by Lisa Engelhardt

Illustrations copyright 2001 by St. Meinrad Archabbey

ISBN: 978-1-4976-8067-8

Published by Abbey Press Publications

1 Hill Drive

St. Meinrad, Indiana 47577

www.abbeypress.com

Distributed by Open Road Distribution

345 Hudson Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

Foreword

A birthday is a milestone calling for a celebration. It means getting gifts, gathering with friends, being treated or treating ourselves. So why would anyone need therapy on such a joyous occasion?

Because the reality is that birthdays arent always a wonderful treat. A certain melancholy often surrounds them. Especially at the turn of a decade or another significant life passage, birthdays soberly remind us of unfinished business, how far we still have to go, how little time we have left to be and do what we want. They also starkly confront us with the facts of aging. Cards we receive wisecrack about skin sagging and energy diminishing as candles on the cake increase. And if there are no cards, if no one notices, we feel forgotteneven when were not sure we ourselves want to remember the day!

Happy Birthday Therapy goes beyond clichs to suggest ways to use your birthday for reflection, self-affirmation, and growth. It helps you to acknowledge disappointments and regrets while appreciating how far youve come and all you have to look forward to. And its profound, life-giving message invites you to a real celebration of the specially ordained day when the Author of Life wrote you into history!

Its your birthdaythe day on which God ordained your unique place and purpose in the universe. Celebrate your beginning, your being, your becoming!

Consider yourself surrounded by a radiance that proclaims: This is my special day and I am special. Then carry that feeling, that aura, with you every day.

Dont ignore your birthday. A birthday is a wonderful opportunity for renewing, rejuvenating, rejoicing!

Remember: You belong to God. From the first moment of your existence, Gods name was written in your heart. God claimed you from all eternity to be born this day, this time, into this set of circumstances.

Recall what you know about your birth; find out more if you can. Reflect prayerfully on this.

No matter what circumstances surrounded your birth or how it was greeted, re-image it with loved ones encircling you, welcoming you into the world, expressing joy at your arrival, delighting in the fact that you are a girl, that you are a boy.

Read Gods personal birthday greetings to you in the kindness of loved ones, the wonder of nature, the goodness within your heart. Gods wish for you is always to feel the nearness of Grace, within and without.

If you want people to remember your birthday, remind them. If you want a party and no one has planned it, throw one yourself.

Gather those you love at your hearth or in your heart. Measure your relationships not by gifts that increase your possessions but by gifts that enrich your heart: loyalty, thoughtfulness, caring, burden-sharing.

Claim your birthright of joy by doing the things that you love best. Lose yourself in the fun and freedom of play. Laugh alone and with others.

Count a blessing for every candle on your cake. Celebrate the abundance of your life.

If you want to be alone, celebrate in solitude. The peace of coming home to your self and to God is a wonderful birthday present.

If you feel an emptiness inside, dont try to stuff it with forced merrymaking. Tend first to the hole in your soul, letting God help you explore the unanswered yearnings of your heart.

Celebrate the cycles of your lifethe bringing forth, the flowering in fullness, the pruning back, the lying dormant. Give yourself gracefully to the season of now .

Have a personal ritual to mark your birthday every yearfor instance, say a special prayer, read a special poem, listen to special music. As the years go by, consider how the meaning of that prayer, poem, or music has changed and deepened for you.

Keep a birthday journal. Each year on your birthday, write down where you are in your lifes journey, how youve changed in the past year, what youve learned, how your life has been enriched.

Open the scrapbook of your heart and savor the special times collected there. Memory gives immortality to cherished moments from the past.