My hat

It may seem like a strange thing to do a blog post about and this isn’t just a challenge to see if I can blog about anything but it is something I have wanted to talk about this year on my blog.

For Christmas my wife got me a Dallas Cowboys beanie hat. Dallas Cowboys are my favourite NFL team and after 3 trips to the NFL in London this year for work, I would walk around with envy saying to myself I would love a hat like that after seeing many people wearing them in the colours of their various teams.

The perfect gift

I mentioned once to my wife how I loved the new NFL beanie range and thought no more of it. So I was blown away this Christmas when I unwrapped it. I was not expecting it as a gift whatsoever as I had only mentioned it once. I don’t want for much in life but when I see something I like I can get obsessive about it, so it was the perfect gift.

When people ask me what I want as a present for birthdays or Christmas I always struggle to know what to say because, like I say I don’t really want for much. I am the same when I have money to spend or am given money as a present I always struggle to find something that I truly want to spend the money on. All of this must make me a nightmare to buy presents for.

What it means

Now to some people a hat may be insignificant but to me it meant the world. With everything going on for someone to remember a brief conversation and get such a meaningful gift it meant more than any other present. It’s not always what your presents and possessions are, it is about what they mean and my hat means a lot to me and I wear it with pride. Not just because I like it and I like the Dallas Cowboys but because when I put it on I know I am loved and thought of.

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Happy Birthday

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So the day after my anniversary, I celebrated my 31^st birthday. The sun was shining (which is rare in the UK in April) and due to it coinciding with the Easter weekend, we had a public holiday so I didn’t have to go in to work.

My wife gave me the most amazing and thoughtful birthday (or should I say birthdays a it stretched over two days), which were days of adventure, fun and time together, away from the stresses and strains of life. It was a time to be happy and I think that is an important thing on a birthday. I think there is a reason people wish you ‘happy birthday’, they want it to be a happy day for you and I can say mine certainly was.

Birthdays for many can be a sad event. Some fear growing older, some use it to lament their current situation in life, some use it to look back at sad events in the last year and some use it to feel sad about the future and what it holds. I think some people think: what have I got to be happy about? It is because of some of these reasons mentioned, that some people choose not to mark or celebrate their birthday and would rather it was forgotten.

An Important day

I want to say that your birthday is a special and important day. Your birthday is the anniversary of the day you came in to this world and started making an impact on it, as believe you me – we all have in our own ways. Your birthday is the anniversary of the day that someone or some people cared enough to bring you in to this world and I think that is something which shouldn’t be underestimated or made to feel small.

Your birthday doesn’t need to be a reflection or a look to the future, it can just be about that one day. If you feel things aren’t going your way in life, it can be a day just to forget about them and enjoy yourself. Even if you are in the midst of a tough situation, never feel like you can’t celebrate your birthday or feel bad for doing so. I personally think the world needs a bit more happiness in it and we should use any chance we have to bring a bit more happiness to it.

What you make it

I am happy for my life and I am happy for my time here on earth. I am so thankful for it all and want to celebrate it any chance I get. A birthday can be a day to look at the world and life anew, a day to show others you love them, a day to be thankful, but above all a birthday is what you make it.

Birthdays shouldn’t be judged on number of presents or money spent on the day, they should be judged on enjoyment of the day. Happiness is contagious and birthdays are a great way to spread happiness, so lets make them the happiest that we can.

After responding to all my birthday wishes on Facebook from friends across the globe I put a post up on my page. In that post I asked my Facebook friends that wanted to get me anything for my birthday to instead of getting me a present, to download by book on dementia care, the story of my life caring for my mum. So I would like to extend that to all my brilliant followers and readers of this blog. It would mean the world to me if you made a purchase or helped me spread the word about the book, by posting a link to it on your social media feeds. Below is the link to the book and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all that have supported me in any way over my life, I am thankful for it all:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unbreakable-Bond-Adam-Sibley-ebook/dp/B00UM6ATBW

Anniversary

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This weekend I will celebrate my first wedding anniversary with my wife. I have been reflecting a lot this week on our first year of marriage. Feels literally just like yesterday that we were getting married. Since we’ve been married we’ve both embraced new challenges and opportunities in life together, travelled abroad and gone about setting up a lovely home.

On this day last year, my wife and I would have been working feverishly to get things done for our wedding, as we did a DIY wedding and created everything from the order of service to the food at our wedding breakfast. Because we were so busy we didn’t really get time to sit and enjoy the build up to the day but even though it was super busy, it was still fun and I am still so proud of the day we created.

As an anniversary present for my wife I have been editing our wedding footage together this week and am hopeful that by the weekend we will have an amazing video that we can keep forever. The church service for our wedding was absolutely amazing, even watching it back as I edit it I am taken back to the feelings and emotions I had that day.

I think milestones are important and any chance to celebrate a relationship or an event should be taken. I know some people don’t make a big fuss of their anniversary but I am so glad my wife and I have the time off this weekend to celebrate it properly. I just hope that we are blessed with 70 more anniversaries at least, as getting married to my wife was the most amazing thing I have ever done in my life and the best decision I have ever made.

I would like to congratulate everyone out there who is celebrating an anniversary this year and never forget, anniversaries are what you make them.