B'Day

No, not a reference to an item of sanitary ware, but the abbreviation I use for birthday.

Today it is mine. Just in case there is a slim chance that someone might actually send best wishes or anniversary greetings I should point out that although today is anniversary of the day of my birth it is not actually the date that I celebrate it.

Why? You may ask and I will tell you. The 23rd of December is probably one of the worst days on the planet to celebrate a birthday and before anyone goes with the obvious " you only get one present, a combined Christmas and Birthday" I'll put that to bed straight away .........

........ I don't mind that at all.

The reason I dislike having my Birthday so close to Christmas is that it is somewhat overshadowed by one of the major Religious Festivals in the Christian Calendar.To be honest everyone is pretty much focussed on the big day as would be expected and there tends to be a bit of "Oh and then there's YOUR birthday as well..... " to it.

I have to be fair here and say that, in previous years, 30% was absolutely brilliant and took great efforts to make the day special but Christmas can be an intense time of year anyway, what with having the finish off ones work tasks, shopping, wrapping, decorating and giving, so to have some spoiled prat that needs a special day too just adds to the potential burden.

I had always thought about moving my birthday to another point in the year, perhaps to when the weather is more clement but how does one decide on which day? Does one simply push it out by six months or perhaps go with something more complicated and have a mobile date that coincides with one of the warmer bank holidays so that you have a warm three day weekend to celebrate your anniversary*.

You see, it is complicated and for a few years I pondered but did nothing. Then back in 2008 I had something that some people regard as a life changing event. I had a totally unexpected, some would say fluke, life threatening medical condition. I was lucky and survived and after a few months was able to return to a normal life. That event happened on 23rd March and it seemed to be an ideal point to shift my Birthday to.

So what will today hold for me? I will get a couple of cards and a few best wishes and greeting but no presents, no outings, no birthday feasts. All of that can wait for 3 months until the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer.

I know that there are other crappy days to celebrate ones birthday. One of my best friends has hers on 30th December, a week from now, She and I regularly have the same discussion - try inviting your friends out for a drink and you find a reluctance as they are really preparing for the following evenings to herald in either Christmas or the New Year. I'm guessing that Christmas day, New Years Day, Boxing day and 2nd January can all be a bit rough too.

So, if like me, you have a birthday around this time of year and don't really enjoy it, go on - shift it to a point in the year that suits you - after all It is YOUR BIRTHDAY and you can do with it what you want.

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* and one that absolutely no one else can remember. Can you tell me when Easter is next year? No, neither can I.