In a week from now, I was supposed to be travelling for a 3-week vacation visiting my extended family abroad. My mom had her birthday the day before, and it could have been such a wonderful time to celebrate together. Wouldn’t it?

But…”Mann Tracht, Un Gott Lacht”. This is an old Yiddish proverb meaning “Man Plans, and God Laughs.” 

Life happens as we’re busy planning it, and no matter how careful we plan, life may be very unpredictable. We just live in an illusion of predictability. 

Anyone who have had a car accident, a radical change in health, a loss of job, or a loss of a dear one, understands this by now. The sooner we adapt, and are flexible to life changes, the faster we recover and thrive.

One thing that this global COVID-19 pandemic has taught us all is that we cannot predict everything, and that we cannot control everything.

So many changes of plans have taken place; from people losing their jobs, to losing a dear family member or a friend, not being able to freely travel and commute, and so much more.

Yesterday I had my birthday. Normally we celebrate by going out to a nice restaurant and play a Bocce game. As we are socially consciousness of the spread of the virus, we preferred to stay at home, as we do in the 

past 4 months or so by now.

I could have gotten disappointed and bitter, but I had a really wonderful day!

Wanna know how? 

It was actually quite easy 😊

The moment I decided to take ownership of my own happiness, was the moment of freedom and happiness.

You see, if we allow the environment to dictate our level of happiness, we are giving our power to something we have no control of, and we’re left frustrated and helpless. The sooner we realize that being in a state of happiness is something only we have control of, that is when we get empowered by ourselves. 

And so, I decided that for my birthday, I am focusing only on the good around me.

My parents live in a 10-hour time difference away from me, and so to them, my birthday begins the night before. 

(Well, that’s one of the perks of living so far away from my family, as my birthday extends over two days 😊)

But despite the fact that my parents were geographically distant, I could still feel their loving energy miles away over the phone. I also got some virtual wishes from friends near and far. We are so blessed to be living in a technologically advanced era that allows that.

I woke up in the morning, and the house was decorated with our in-stock happy birthday signage and balloons, which my son arranged. It was really nice because it showed his intent and attention to what he knows is important to me. This is our go-to whenever one of us has a birthday. I role modeled this to my children so many times. It is nice to know that as they grow up, they too know how to give some attention back. 

The house was also decorated by a nice bouquet which I bought to myself two days earlier, and the flowers started to open and bloom. That was beautiful. I did not build up expectations that someone will buy me flowers, and then get disappointed if they didn’t. No need to activate any ego here. I love flowers, and I got myself what I love that makes me happy.

I enrolled to a 7-day nutrition cleansing and workout program that is vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free, that started off on my birthday. I was feeling happy and empowered as I was gifting myself with the gift of taking back control over my health and well-being. My health and well-being is a value I live by, and this is another way to enhance it. I was happy and ready to take on this journey.

So taking on this 7-day cleansing program is definitely changing my automatic cooking and eating habits. The recipes involve ingredients I’ve never heard of or kept in my pantry before. After purchasing what I needed, I cooked something new from the program recipes. It was new, and I was curious to see and taste my new dish. It turned out delicious 😊

After a home-made lunch, it was time for the gifts. When I was a little girl and wanted something, I had to wait for my birthday to get it, if at all. We now live in an era of abundance. Everything is a click away, and we get most of what we want in a day or two straight to our doorway. To me it is more of a symbolic act of attention. My husband got me a nice tea mug with my birth year printed on it, and some inspiring drink coasters. My older son read me a wish he wrote, and my younger son gave me his hearty hugs. It felt so nice. 

In the past, I could have focused on what I didn’t get, but instead, the night before, I was focusing on all my blessings. I wrote each one of my family members a long gratitude letter. To my husband, to my three children, and to me as well. Yes, to me. Because I am the person that I most need to be happy with. Research show that giving thanks is one of the key ways to increase happiness, and I can attest you just that. The process of focusing on the good qualities, intentions and behavior of the people you are in relations with, and in your environment, and writing it down opened my heart with love, joy and happiness. I gave them the letters and was so grateful for being among my loving, healthy family.

Yes, Corona days restrict us in so many ways, but nature is still around us. After lunch, we got into our car, and just drove to explore new roads and locations. Being shelter-in-place for so long, we appreciated watching the changing fields, not taking the road for granted, and satisfying our eyes with new sights. We parked to watch around and take some phots and drove back home feeling happy.

So yesterday I had my birthday in the midst of Corona, and I’m really happy 😊