This is 3️⃣8️⃣. Birthdays. Bleh amirite😏? Seems like the one time of year you expect (or humbly pray) everything goes absolutely perfect, but only to set the bar too high and get disappointed, or set the bar too low and get... well, resentful🤔? Honestly, it doesn’t have to be that way, and for me it didnt used to be🥺. But now I use my birthday as an opportunity to do an emotional audit about the 3️⃣6️⃣5️⃣ days God gifted me with🥹. This year was all about the idea of Coexisting🙇🏻‍♀️. ❤️Grief + Happiness can coexist. ❤️Apologizing + Being right can coexist. ❤️Choosing to end something + But missing it when its gone can coexist. ❤️Loving something so much + Feeling resentful can coexist. This year I learned to give myself permission to sob over the loss of Totopoh, but also be filled with happiness over other victories without feeling guilt or shame. I gave myself permission to still miss relationships that I chose to end that no longer aligned with my values, and hurt me more than helped. This year I learned that my life has no space for ego and that even if I am right, sometimes all someone needs is an apology (and vice versa). I also accepted that my hyper sensitivity, while typically a super power, can sometimes be the culprit of hurting my own feelings. I learned that is is ok to have simultaneous feelings that you normally wouldn’t expect without holding myself prisoner of the “supposed to” or the optics. And the best part about this year is what someone told me: You lose a F**k with every birthday 🎉. Ladies and gentlemen, I’m officially out of them😂. And can I tell you that this side of life is oh so liberating🙌🏼! YOU CAN BREATHE🧘🏻‍♀️!!! So my birthday wish is this🎂: For you to embrace not giving a F, releasing the guilt and shame, apologizing profusely to the people you love, crying for those you miss, and publicly and loudly loving those who are still around, because life is too short for shame, ego, or f**kery. XO, D👹