Celebrating Life and Entrepreneurship at 46

I'm 46 today! Or as I've started saying, I'm 46 chapters deep into my life story. No, actually, what I really said this morning is I'm 46 years deep in the game. The game of life, that is.

Birthdays for me are more than a day to celebrate being born. It's actually a blend of celebration and reflection, mixed with life lessons, and topped off with a sprinkle of entrepreneurial enlightenment. I would be telling an untruth if I said that that blend was created in a smooth and effortless process, so I won't say that. However, what I will say is each year my birthday becomes less about the candles and balloons, and more about going inward, reflecting on my life, and praying that no matter what the next chapter brings, peace, love, and creative vision will be included.

Today, I choose to celebrate growth, ambition, wisdom and passion. I know some people may get tired of me referencing growth but for those of you who understand it, you get where I'm coming from. It's my greatest accomplishment to date in my personal and professional development journeys.

Every year, my birthday has become a personal checkpoint on my emotional, social, physical, mental, spiritual, entrepreneurial, and creative growth. Yes, all of that. I take time to pause and look back at the path traveled so far, cherishing all the milestones, even the little ones. I'm grateful for every stumbling block because they transformed into stepping stones, lighting the way as I moved forward.

My birthday is a time for celebrating the journey – the ups, the downs, and everything in between. It's reveling in an age where the fear of failure doesn't stop me from pursuing dreams, but rather fuels my determination to succeed and make every moment count. Birthdays now are not only a chance to express gratitude to God for my existence but also my evolution. They have become milestones that mark my growth both as a person and an entrepreneur.

For those of you who dread blowing out one additional candle every year, I'm challenging you to shift your perspective and see your birthday as a blessing. It's a blessing to be alive and experience new opportunities. To start over each day, take a deep breath, and do something different. To see birthdays as milestones to celebrate the journey you’re on - a journey shaped by your dreams, by your passion, and driven by your resilience. Embrace every year as a testament to your growth and view each birthday as an opportunity to curate more unforgettable chapters in your life's book.

Never forget, just as the rings inside a tree give it character and strength, so do our birthdays - each one a gift, each one an affirmation that we are still learning, still growing, still becoming who we're meant to be.