On Battling the Birthday Blues

So…during my 30th birthday celebration this happened.

For the first time in my life I am not looking forward to my birthday.

If you know me well, you know I love birthdays -- not just my birthday but everybody's! I consider a birthday a perfect reason to have a party. But in about two weeks I'll be turning 33 and this year I don't feel like celebrating.

It's like I'm having the blues most folks get when they're turning 30, but three years later.

As my 33rd birthday approaches I've been sitting around thinking of all the things I had hoped to accomplish by now that I haven't.

I realize this makes me an ungrateful brat.

I realize that instead of dwelling on dreams that haven't come to fruition I should be thanking God for the ones that have. Instead of focusing on the things I don't have in my life, I should be counting my blessings.

I have lived all over the country and traveled to Puerto Rico, Nicaragua and Canada.

I have a master's degree from one of the best public institutions in the country -- UC Berkeley.

I have interviewed celebrities like Jamie Foxx and Ani DiFranco.

I have seen my byline in the Chicago Sun Times, The Seattle Times, USA Today and a number of national magazines.

I married my best friend.

I have the privilege of teaching smart, funny, kind, and unbelievably talented teens every single day.

I am thankful for parents who hugged me every day and told me they loved me every night.

I am grateful for my love for the written word.

I am thankful for the people who read this little blog of mine.

I am grateful for my body and its ability to walk, run, and dance.

I am thankful for the wonderful women I've met through See Jane Write.

I am grateful that I live in a country and in an era that afford me the opportunity to look at my life and reshape into exactly what I want it to be.