Sunday, January 22, 2012

Birthday

"....Age is number that you put in your head.....If you work hard and believe in what you want to accomplish.....go out there and put the work in and you will achieve it."
--Meb Keflezighi

Yesterday I turned 39!

I love birthdays. I've never had a bad one. My dad always said having another birthday is better than the alternative. There's a lot of wisdom in that.

Since 39 is a multiple of 13, and since some of you might think for various reasons that you will someday have trouble with this birthday or the next one that ends in a "9" or a "0" for you, here are some thoughts on why I'm happier now than I was the last two times my age was divisible by 13:

I'm happier at 39 than I was at 13 because:


  • I have good friends. At 13, I entered a new school and knew almost no one. It took my introverted self two years to meet kindred spirits. Many mornings, I was so lonely I just wanted to stay in bed. These days, I am surrounded by people I like, and I have a long past that includes COUNTLESS people I like. I saw some of them in Houston last weekend. That was as happy a thing as my marathon PR.
  • I see physical activity, and especially running, as a celebration, not a sentence. The worst part of my day at age 13 was PE class. The best part of my day now is my early morning run.
  • I (mostly) like the way I look. I'm no fashion model and I'll never have an "elite" physique, but I've learned how to be comfortable with what I've been given (it helps that, unlike at age 13, I'm not sporting a God-awful Orphan Annie shopping-mall-salon perm).


I'm happier at 39 than I was at 26 because:


  • I have a husband who loves me. When I was 26, I was on the third in a string of lousy boyfriends. My family and friends were starting to wonder if I liked only men who were bad for me. Now I see that every loser who dumped me, cheated on me or lost his fruitcake temper with me was doing me a favor by getting out the way of the one I was really waiting for.
  • I am a mom. I'd always wanted to have kids. But at 26, I wasn't sure that was ever going to happen for me. Now I have beautiful boy/girl twins who build spaceships out of cardboard boxes and come to me when they need a hug.
  • I am a librarian. My job is to help people find the information and entertainment they need and want. I don't please all of my library's patrons all the time, but every day at work I make someone happy. When I was 26, I was an unhappy business journalist. It might have been a more prestigious job in the worldly sense of that term, but I made almost no one happy, especially myself.
  • I am a sub-4-hour marathoner. At 26, I was a marathoner, but I thought that was a one-time thing I'd done a long time ago, wasn't very good at it and would never do again. I'd still say I'm not very good at it in an absolute sense (let's be real: I did just watch the Olympic Trials). But I have proven to myself that I can get better, much better than I thought I could be. And I do believe I haven't touched the ceiling that marks the limit of how much better I can get.
Now....wouldn't YOU rather be 39 than 13 or 26?

25 comments:

  1. Nice way to think about it! Having just finished being 39 I can say it was a good year for me! Way better than 13 for sure.

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  2. Every year just keeps getting better and better!!! Yes, anything is better than 13!!!! Happy birthday!

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  3. Happy birthday! I loved 26, but 27 was even better that was the year I met my husband and got married, went to Italy, Banff, Las Vegas and Maui. I don't think you could ever drag me back to 13 though, what a nasty age!

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  4. Definitely! 39 sounds like your best 13-divisible age by far! :) Such a rich, full life... happy, happy birthday!

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  5. Oh HAPPY BIRTHDAY, TERZAH!!!!!!!! I am so elated to read this post, to feel your joy, gratitude and celebration! And I love your perspective - so refreshing and fun. I am sure I am happier now than I was at 13 and at 26 too :o)

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  6. What a great post and happy birthday! I'm well past 39 but I wouldn't want to go back at all!

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  7. Happy belated birthday! This is a fun post. I actually am 26, but it sounds like there is way more to look forward to!

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  8. Happy Birthday! I love this post!

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  9. Happy B-Day! Damn I wish I was 26............... HA

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  10. Happy 39th birthday!! a couple of reasons I love this post!
    1. that's so awesome you are so happy with your life and yourself at this point in time.
    2. love, love, LOVE - Meb's quote. I started mtn biking @ 41 years old and wondered if I was too old. I started running @ 50 years old and again I wonder if I'm too old. But I don't *feel* old...but then again I don't *feel* short so maybe I'm delusional...

    Enjoy your 39th year!!

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  11. That is a great way to look at your birthday. Happy Birthday!

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  12. Hmm, when I turned 40, I didn't really think of it that way -- but I bet i would have reached same conclusion as you. And Happy B-day!

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  13. What an awesome post, and a good perspective to view your age from. I just turned 40 a few months ago. I wasn't looking forward to that.

    BTW, I tagged you in my latest post, which coincidentally, is about the Olympic Marathon Trials where you were at. Have a good week.

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  14. Oh, I am so sorry I missed your birthday day! Who knew Carlsbad Marathon was on your bday!?!? So sorry about that, let's do lunch or a bike ride or something soon to celebrate!

    I love how much you love where you are with yourself right now. I always used to say I wish I knew the things at age 30 that I know now, but really, that'd take the fun out of it, right? And we wouldn't "learn". I'm going to copy the one about the boyfriends and give that to my daughter, she so deserves to dump her feeling for this loser she's obsessed with. ugh.

    Happy Belated Birthday!!!!!!

    xo

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  15. Nice perspective!! Happy Birthday.

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  16. What a wonderful, celebratory post! Given that I'm currently 26, I shall have to keep this in mind when I turn 39. :-) Happy, happy birthday Terzah.

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  17. Yay for Disqus! So happy I can comment. Now we need to spread the word to others!

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  18. I'm 36, and my life is better now than at 26.  Sometimes I wish I could go back to 26 - but definitely not 13 - and make better choices in order for my life now to be even better (less TV, more exercise!).

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  19. Hey girl!  Happy Happy Birthday!!!  I hope you celebrated well!  I am 37 and I am so much more secure and confident in myself than I ever was at 26, so I would say that I would much rather be in my 30's rather then my 20's (can't believe I said that).  I would NEVER want to go back to 13...UGH.   

    Huge congrats to you on your 6 minute PR in Houston!  You are awesome and inspire me to want to get back to marathon training (someday.....maybe).  It sounds like that BQ is in you, so keep on keeping on.  

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  20. i don't think there's a better quote to open this post with!! Happy Birthday!! :)  i recently had mine too and it's funny because in some ways i feel so old, then in others i feel like i'm about 8!! i hope ur's was wonderful and u have MUCH to be proud of for each of those years...and here's to more. :)

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  21. this almost made me cry it was so great!! i truly believe things are better now than at 13 without a doubt, i am better than I was at 21 and i pray that I'll love 39

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  22. Hurray! I've been coming back to this post since the day you posted it wanting to reply!

    I LOVE LOVE this post! Oh my gosh, you are so right on.  I love the sense of you happy as you are, I love the recognition of where you've come from who/where you are, I love knowing that yes, I too could post this same thing (changing a lot of details).  Happy birthday, my friend! I'm glad I found your blog...or you found mine, whichever way it happened. :)

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  23. And it's weird to see your face by my name, but I'm too lazy to upload a picture. :)

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  24. Happy birthday!!!! You are and you look young.

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  25. I've been out of blog touch...so a very belated Happy Birthday to you!

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