Sunday, November 10, 2013

Happy Birthday to Me!!! Wait...I'm how old?

(Should have been posted November 4th)

Today I am 38 years young....and I'm ok with it!  Mostly for the fact that for the last year I have been telling everyone I am 38 honestly thinking I was.  So I basically missed my 37th year of life but on the bright side I don't really get older this year in my eyes!  I actually did the same thing when I turned 31.  I guess after 30 it no longer matters what your exact age is. Ha!

Other than that, the day was uneventful.  Unable to spend time with anyone else because of possibly being contagious because of my daughter having the flu, I cleaned my bathrooms and did laundry. Oh the life of a stay at home mom.

Like most other social media addicts I watched everyone's birthday greetings add up on Facebook  during the day; helping to feed a narcissistic need of being accepted I have had since elementary school.  But this year I realized that quickly that the numbers were not what was important to me.  I was looking forward to the phone calls I usually get every year.

The day typically starts off with Happy Birthday being sang to me by my mommy.  She is always the first and then typically my husband and daughter.  Trickling in over the course of the day I would hear from 2 of my 3 brothers, 2 aunts and a few friends.  What I got this year was quite different.

Of course my mom did exactly as expected. She never lets me down =)  My daughter also was quick to extend birthday wishes before she headed out to school.  I noticed one aunt posted to my facebook but I figured I would still receive a phone call later.  Around 11 my older brother texted me and I quote, "happy birthday nice weather".  (We had just received a big dump of snow)  Although I replied, that was the extent of what I heard from him.  I did receive alot of texts from friends over the course of the day, however, only one took the time to actually phone me.  My father in law texted me in the afternoon.   My little brother called me around supper and we had a nice little visit.  My husband however, while working up in Fort McMurray didn't get a chance to call me until after supper. (Yeah that didn't go over well....I will say he has made up for it since though).

So what is the point to my story?    What am I trying to say?
As a society we have become complacent with the importance of hearing a person's voice.  We have become lazy.  It is easier to send a text, an email, snapchat, etc.  We are becoming a generation who will no longer be able to talk to each other.  Next time you are in a doctor's office, elevator, or any other place where people used to actually talk to strangers, watch what happens in those moments of silence.....Out pops the cell phones.  What a great way to avoid people. 
But what are we really learning from this age of technology?  We are learning to avoid confrontation.  We are learning to read intonation into a message, make assumptions and in turn freak out, jump to conclusions......But hey, we can just send a nasty text because who needs to deal with things face to face.  My daughter has even admitted to not answering phone calls because she doesn't know what to say and then turn around and text them.  Sadly,  I am just as guilty as everyone else out there.  I have done all of the above ........And so have YOU!

So my plan, and I challenge you to as well, is to at birthdays, holidays, time's of loss or heartache, achievement or illness, pick up the phone.   Honestly evaluate who are those that are really important to you,  and let them know they are important enough to hit "CALL" instead of "SEND MESSAGE".



  







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