Tomorrow I will turn 46 years old. 46\u2026why does that sound SO old?\u00a0 I suppose its because I remember as a child looking at adults who were 46 years old and thinking \u201cthey are SO OLD\u201d \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n
Most past birthdays I have dreaded getting another year older, and I suppose there is a big part of me that still definitely dreads the wrinkles and all the other exterior signs of aging that come with getting another year older\u2026but what I can honestly say that I don\u2019t dread this birthday is the fact that I have gained 46 years of life experience and wisdom that have shaped me into the person that I am today.<\/p>\n
There is so much I\u2019ve learned over 46 years of going through numerous failures, successes, tragedies, triumphs, hurts, heartaches, and happy times. With every struggle and hard time I\u2019ve gone through I\u2019ve gained additional wisdom and knowledge that has helped me to become better and smarter and wiser. While I\u2019d like to say life would have been happier without the hard times I know that it was those difficult times that I was able to change for the better.<\/p>\n
As I prepare to celebrate my birthday tomorrow a few of the life lessons that stand out to me as I\u2019m reflecting on what I\u2019ve learned over these last 46 years are:<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that I can handle far more than I would have ever thought possible.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that it\u2019s okay to admit to my weaknesses, and that doing so makes me a much stronger person than someone who doesn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that life isn\u2019t always fair.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that people I love can sometimes hurt me\u2026 a lot.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that if I\u2019m not careful I can sometimes hurt the people I love a lot too.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned it\u2019s always worth it to be patient, loving, and kind.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that some days are going to be hard\u2026really hard\u2026but if I just stand up straight and hold strong to my values that I will get through it\u2026and I can rest assured that the sun will come up again tomorrow bringing with it a brand new day in which ANYTHING is possible.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that my faith can be stronger than my fears.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that in order to grow I have to be willing to do things that scare me.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that I only fail when I don\u2019t try, or when I give up trying, because all I have to do to be successful is to try and keep trying.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that life is precious and my time in this life is limited, so I don\u2019t want to waste a single moment of it on thoughts, feelings, or actions that won\u2019t help me become a better person.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that forgiving can be really hard, but not forgiving is not an option if I want to be happy.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that my family is everything.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that my parents deserve more respect and gratitude than I have ever given to them for the many sacrifices they\u2019ve made and for the love and support they\u2019ve always given to me. I\u2019ve also learned that my parents aren\u2019t going to live forever so I had better take advantage of every moment I can to learn from them, to love them, and to make more memories with them while I can.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that marriage is hard, even when you love your spouse more than life itself. It takes work and sacrifice and humility along with being willing to truly put the other person\u2019s needs above your own. It takes communicating and listening with a desire to understand the other person. It takes flirting and laughing and having fun together. It takes forgiving and asking to be forgiven without hesitation. It takes a commitment to stay together even on the days you don\u2019t like each other very much. It takes total, complete fidelity, but it’s totally worth it.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that my time with my children is never to be taken for granted because the older they get the less time they have to spend with me, and the more and more I would give to have additional time with them. I’ve learned that raising good children is the greatest thing I could ever do with my time. And the most rewarding.<\/p>\n
I’ve learned that Grandchildren are God’s gift to us to pay us back for all the sacrifices we made to be parents ourselves.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve learned that true success isn\u2019t a factor of making lots of money or getting loads of public recognition for things I\u2019ve accomplished \u2013 success is living my life with integrity, having the love of my family forever, and being able to walk uprightly before God.<\/p>\n
This birthday will be different for me because rather than mourning that I am getting older, I am going to CELEBRATE the fact that I am another year wiser and a little more fabulous! Now go eat a piece of cake to celebrate with me \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n
~Amy Rees Anderson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Tomorrow I will turn 46 years old. 46\u2026why does that sound SO old?\u00a0 I suppose its because I remember as a child looking at adults who were 46 years old and thinking \u201cthey are SO OLD\u201d \ud83d\ude09 Most past birthdays I have dreaded getting another year older, and I suppose there is a big part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[14936,14933,14923,3342,395,14919,6840,14925,590,872,3746,14920,83,218,4298,14912,14910,2192,14918,4953,3764,55,7176,14922,14939,14930,513,14921,14917,7175,868,14909,14926,2559,14934,14915,14928,14929,1439,14914,14937,14932,14938,6777,14913,14927,14916,14911,866,5547,14924,3348,14940,14935,14931],"class_list":["post-8405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-46-years-old","tag-a-brand-new-day","tag-a-little-more-fabulous","tag-aging","tag-amy-rees-anderson","tag-another-year-wiser-and-a-little-more-fabulous","tag-anything-is-possible","tag-be-forgiven","tag-celebrate","tag-cherish","tag-difficult-times","tag-eat-cake","tag-experience","tag-failure","tag-families-are-forever","tag-family-is-everything","tag-flirting","tag-forgiving","tag-getting-older","tag-growing-old","tag-growing-up","tag-happiness","tag-happy-birthday-to-me","tag-happy-birthday-to-you","tag-heartaches","tag-hold-strong-to-your-values","tag-knowledge","tag-let-them-eat-cake","tag-mourning-age","tag-my-birthday","tag-older","tag-older-and-wiser","tag-only-fail-if-you-dont-try","tag-parents","tag-people-you-love-can-hurt-you","tag-public-recognition","tag-some-days-are-hard","tag-stand-up-straight","tag-struggle","tag-success-isnt-a-factor-of-money","tag-the-lessons-ive-learned","tag-the-sun-will-come-up","tag-tragedies","tag-triumphs","tag-true-success","tag-try-and-keep-on-trying","tag-walking-uprightly-before-god","tag-what-marriage-takes","tag-wisdom","tag-wiser","tag-wont-live-forever","tag-wrinkles","tag-you-can-handle-it","tag-you-can-hurt-the-people-you-love","tag-you-will-get-through-it"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8405"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8412,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8405\/revisions\/8412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.amyreesanderson.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}