Serenity, Significant Birthdays and Simple Things

So today I will celebrate a significant birthday, I will turn 60.  Yesterday someone asked how I felt about it and I realized I don't really know.  When I turned 50 I was excited, my kids were becoming adults, my spouse had a great job and I had a good career, now 10 years later, I'm in a new location with a new career goal, a retired spouse and my children are adults with lives of their own, so how do I feel about 60?  I'd say confused.

When I was a young married person 35 years ago I thought 60 was ancient and that my parents were so old, now I look at myself and think I look so much younger than my parents did when they were 60, but is it really true?  This is what I'm having a hard time with.

Over the weekend I had been in a kinda of funk, I was not really serene but I wasn't  anxious either, I was just meh. So when I woke up this morning to a sunny, hot day, my phone filled with texts and already Facebook posts wishing me a Happy Birthday I had myself feeling a little bit lighter.  I also had the joy of watching my favorite hockey team win the Stanley Cup (I'd like to think that they won in honor of my 60th birthday) for the 2nd year in a row last night.  So what's still causing me to question how I feel about turning 60?

I have learned over the past 5 years that it doesn't do my serenity any good to constantly be looking ahead or looking behind, but that I need to just simply live in the moment. Find the joy in where you are at and what you are doing, even the mundane.  I can find the joy of drinking the perfect cup of coffee with my breakfast, the joy of sitting and looking at the view from my deck, the joy of being surrounded by birthday cards, the art on my walls, the plants in the corner, even doing the dishes (there's a lot of joy blowing soap bubbles with dish soap-I recommend trying it).

So on my 60th birthday I will find my daily serenity by breathing in and out very deeply, reading all the best wishes of my friends and family on social media, enjoy the quiet, embrace the joy that surrounds me today and every day and possibly even eat something that's not so healthy.

Locate your Serenity, Embrace the Joy and HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY TO ME!