I am 30

My "28 Days of Celebrating 30" comes to a close within 10 minutes as I start this blog post. And, I've got to say, I've never been prouder of any birthday celebration. I made a commitment to finding a celebrate-worthy event for each day, and succeeded. In the process, I learned (or confirmed) how to love myself and how to love others -- and relish in the process of receiving love from those people who make up my inner circle, friends and family.

I didn't post as frequently as I had hoped to, but I am sure that the discussion will be ongoing as I reflect on the experiences I thoroughly enjoyed throughout the month.

These experiences include: spending time with groups of friends, spending time with friends one-on-one, going away for a mini family vacation to one of my favorite destinations, eating until my belly was ready to pop, working out until the sweat poured down my body, putting myself to bed early to enjoy a full (and indulgent) night of rest, drinking until I blacked out and waking up in different clothes, taking a weekend to "hit the road" on a dash-through road trip to spend time with my family up north, buying little things that make me happy, working to repair relationships, learning the rules of new relationships, letting myself crush madly, spending a morning at a salon treating myself to a wild-crazy hair color treatment, dancing with friends and dancing alone, challenging my body to new physical feats, going to new restaurants and tasting new foods (that, let's face it, I would never make at home) -- the list goes on and on....has it really only been a month?

There have been times of exhaustion - I mean, did I really pack all this activity into just one month?! Thank God that February only has 28 days this year - the 29th day of a Leap Year might have done me in...but it is a good exhaustion. There was plenty of work and challenges mixed in with a lot of play and fun.

And, ultimately, love.

1. Taking the time to love myself: acknowledging my strengths, challenging my weaknesses, letting loose in some areas and pulling the reigns tighter in others.

2. Taking the time to love others: focusing on love languages and dishing out love as people accept it, investing in the tales and experiences of others (not to mention learning from them) and sharing dozens and dozens of hugs along the way.

3. Taking the time to receive love (a little harder for me than the first two): acknowledging the celebration of my birth, taking in words of affirmation like jewels and polishing them until they shine, enjoying the acts of service given to me like treasure-bits that benefit my life source, relishing in the physical touch of being close to others (I love hugs, if you didn't know), focusing on moments of quality time shared with these beautiful people who are an active part of my life and with whom I have the ultimate pleasure (and responsibility) to grow older with; and yes, even humbly accepting the gifts that came my way and, a little selfishly, being giddy over the accumulation of new acquisitions to my property.

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I am thrilled to be 30.

I am thrilled to know what I know; and at the wisdom I've gleaned and implemented in my life (and thankful for the way God weaves experiences into my life so that I learn wisdom...a few lessons repeated since I am such a hard head, but glad that he doesn't consider me a lost cause).

And, so starts a new decade-chapter in my life; and I've never anticipated tomorrow with such a positive outlook.