Happy Birthday to Me!

Call me naive, but in planning to come to SEVA Cafe last night, I really never considered that there would be any birthday party for me. My birthday was on Wedsnesday and like most birthdays, this one came and went without too much afterthought. I was excited to be part of Nirali’s birthday and excited to celebrate Ben’s accomplishment as a non-smoker. It wasn’t too long after arriving at SEVA that I realized something was up and by the time I got to the back room, I definately knew something was up. The big “happy birthday Michele” banner was a dead give away….At first, I felt uncomfortable that too much attention was going to come my way and that’s just so awkward for me. It’s really been a growing experience for me to get used to having so many people care about me and say they admire me or that I inspire them. Sometimes I feel like the words I’m hearing must be about someone else.

As the evening at SEVA passed, people I know and people I dont know came to wish me happy birthday and I realized I was learning yet another lesson about kindness. Kindness that is life changing can be as simple as walking up to a stranger and saying “happy birthday”. 

Kindness is empowering to both the person extending the kindness and the person recieving it. I’ve been so fortunate to be both of those people.  Today, I feel empowered by the kindness of all my friends to become the kindest person I can be. My heart is really happy, full of gratitude, and excitement about the future. What better birthday gifts could a person ask for? For giving me the best birthday ever, I can only say “THANK YOU”.