Bon anniversaire!

In a matter of days, I'll be yet another year older (aack!). Yup, my birthday's here again. =)

This year I'm not planning on any party. Instead of having a huge gathering of family and friends, I want small, intimate get-togethers instead, and only with friends whom I've shared a lot of quality moments with. Instead of loud, chaotic, jambalaya party, I will much rather have sweet, dedicated face-time with only a few particular people. I want to create and savour moments with people I truly like.

The older I get, the fewer people I want -- I mean it in a good way, though. I mean, at some point, being popular or having a great quantity of friends doesn't matter anymore, at least not as much as the quality of friends you do choose to spend more time with. In the 20+ years I've spent on this planet, I've learned a thing or two about trusting people. I've become more adept at "reading" a person and assessing whether it's wise to be close to that person or not. That alone has narrowed down the number of people I consider to be true friends. But mind you, my satisfaction with such smaller, tighter relationships has intensified. =)

A lot of it has to do with listening to my intuitive voice. Proud to say, I've reached a milestone in my personal growth this year (yay!). Why? Because I've learned to really be in tune with my own thoughts and emotions. =) I've learned to challenge others who kept hurting me. I've learned to forgive myself for hurting others. I've learned to love myself again, and boy, what a difference-maker! My attitude towards myself has drastically changed my perspective on others and my relationships with them. (It's funny how Self and Others are mutually reinforcing!) After a long period of low self-esteem and alienation, I've finally found myself again! This is the strongest and most secure I've been, ever! =)

So this is the direction I'm going this year: I choose to dedicate more of my time to fewer people. I'll invest myself only in relationships I want, with people I trust and enjoy being with. And those people whose company I value, I'll find more of. That will be my gift to myself. (Concurrently, I hope to weed out the ones who drove me to many years of negative self-talk. Believe me, I felt so shitty before that I gravitated towards shitty pals -- bad move!)

So there: Happy Birthday to me! =) Congratulations for a job well done this year, and here's to hoping Marie will continue to grow and create the most uplifting life she can! (Amen!)

(Forgive me for being so shamelessly presumptuous, but here's Marie's wish list.)

(And if you're wondering about my twentysomething age, sorry, but I've stopped revealing my age since I hit 22, hehe!)