Birthdays. They come once a year, every year and you either love it or hate it. Personally, I’m not the biggest fan. I just turned 19, and for most other Canadians, this is supposed to be the best birthday yet – you are finally legal. While that was exciting for me, I quickly came to remember that I live in the US for more than half the year. So, no hype in that area. But that’s not the reason that I dislike my birthday. I have never been a big birthday person. My mom never fails to remind me that ever since my first birthday, I have ended the day in tears because I was tired and just wanted the day to be over. Don’t get me wrong – I love feeling all the love from my friends and the occasional Instagram story or Facebook collage. That said, there is so much that comes along with a birthday that isn’t for me.
Hoping to seek answers, I found an article on Chatelaine titled, “Hate your birthday? You may have a valid reason.” After briefly skimming it, I was left baffled and confused. There was no chance that the reason I don’t like my birthday is that “there’s more than a 13 percent change that [I’ll] kick the bucket on [my] birthday than on any other day of the year.” But as I read on, it began to make more sense. Researchers believe that these so-called birthday blues is the result of a fairly extreme level of stress that comes about on one’s birthday. For me, the worst part is suffering through that painfully uncomfortable minute while everyone sings “Happy birthday” and you don’t know if you should chant along or just smile. But with that, a birthday comes with having to know what you want, what you want to do, if you need to plan a get-together or if you put it on a friend and then feel sorry about it and the list goes on. All of that said though; I don’t want to sit alone in my bed all day and have people ignore my birthday. I want to celebrate in the least obnoxious way possible. So, for anyone else out there who strongly dislikes their birthday, here are a few tips to get through the dreadful day that somehow always seems to surprise you even though it is the same day every year.
Plan whatever you are doing yourself.
If you’re like me and hate the whole spectacle of a birthday, the best way to avoid that is to plan everything yourself. Rather than leaving it up to a friend and having them plan a party that would likely end up on My Super Sweet 16, take it upon yourself and plan a lowkey dinner with a few close friends. That way, you only have to awkwardly smile while ten people sing “Happy Birthday,” not 100.
Eat cake. And lots of it!
If I know one thing, it is that there is very little that cake can’t fix. So even though you may feel uncomfortable and anxious all day, remember that you can make it to the finish line – that finish line being cake.
Just remember that no matter what, people are there to celebrate you because they love you.
I don’t want anything that I previously said to sound ungrateful. I am so thankful that I have people around me who want to put in the effort to make my birthday the best that it can be. And even if it’s not the Netflix in bed situation you had planned, remember that people are there to celebrate you and all you can do is say thank you and make the most of it.
Sources:
https://www.chatelaine.com/living/hate-your-birthday-you-may-have-a-valid-reason/