Last Sunday I celebrated my fifty fourth Birthday.  I think some Birthdays cause me to pause and contemplate the past with an eye towards the future.  I have thought about so much this past week but couldn’t decide which of the following topics to write about:

54 Things I am Grateful for

54 Things I’ve Learned in 54 years

54 Things I would tell my younger self

54 Future Fun Fabulous Fantasies to live out

54 More things I’d love to accomplish

54 Things to be Happy about

54 Reasons to be Hopeful

54 Bits of Inspiration-A Few of my favorite quotes

So…what does one do, when one cannot decide?  One may then choose all options! (It’s sort of like how I pack when I travel. “Options” is my modus operandi. Anyone who has traveled with me knows what that means…It means a lot of luggage!!!!)  Because I couldn’t make up my mind which to focus on, I decided to simply comment on all of them to total 54.  Here goes:

I’m particularly grateful for:

1. My Family and the Love they have given me-and the opportunity they have given me to try to love them back in equal proportion

2. My Friends for the Love and understanding they have provided me

3. The care, compassion, and extraordinary care received at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

4. The resources I have had access to-to give back to the causes/organizations that mean something to me

5. The travel opportunities I have had seeing this amazing world

Things I have learned in 54 years:

1. Everything old is new again

2. You can’t control fate – what will be, will be

3. You can’t make someone love you

4. You can’t control other people’s feelings or actions

5. There is always something to hope for

6.The passage of time does “heal” (may not ever erase though) all wounds

7. The only place you can go when you are at the bottom is up

8. People come in and out of your life but close family and true friends will be there through thick and even thicker (and thin too)

 Things I would tell my younger self:

1. Try not to worry about so much

2. “Go for it” and try not to let fear stop you from taking risks

3. Always follow your heart

4. “Everything will be ok in the end, because if it’s not ok, it’s not the end”

5. You can manifest your own dreams-you just need to be patient

6. Enjoy the journey

7. It will all make sense in the end

8. Some of your biggest failures will eventually make the best stories some day

9. Everything will work out the way it’s supposed to

10.Try to stay in present time.

11. Be/Stay true to yourself

12. You’ll never be sorry you are kind

13.Don’t be afraid to be yourself-being different is Ok-even appreciated as you get older

Fun Fabulous Fantasies for the Future:

1. To have some actual reason-a job with that purpose-to have to be at all the important Fashion shows in the world

2.To have reason (or just for vacation) to go overseas-Europe, China, India to identify “trends”and buy them

(I think maybe opening a retail clothing store might be in my future???)

3. Golfing by day in the sunshine next to an ocean preferably and drinking dirty martinis by night with friends and family!

4. To go on more family trips

5. To ski in the mountains by day and relax next to a fire by night

6. To stay in a little hut in Bora-Bora or some other exotic ocean location?

7. To live somewhere on or near the ocean -perhaps in a cottage by the sea or back in San Francisco?

Things I would love to accomplish in the next 54 years:

1. Write two books and go on a speaking tour discussing the contents of both

2.Become the Mother of 4 high school graduates and launch 4 happy children out into the world to continue their own adventures-whatever THEY want to do!

3. Become a wise, wonderful, loving and “accepting” (non judgmental) old lady who still is extremely young at heart at least!

4. Continue being athletically inclined-Jog, dance, yoga, tennis, golf-whatever makes me happy!

5. Continue working on issues/causes I care about-anti sexual assault movement and childhood cancer-St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

Things to be happy about:

1. I still have my parents on earth

2. My children are still on earth with me

3. I am healthy

4. I have proven to myself that I am a strong survivor amidst challenging circumstances

5. I have a lot of love in my life

Reasons to be Hopeful:

1.The sun rises and sets every day

2. Spring always arrives

3. If there’s nothing left to hope for on earth, there is eternity/paradise to look forward to

 Bits of Inspiration: Favorite quotes:

1. “It’s never a good idea to give up on your dreams”-Barbara Stamp

2.”People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” -Maya Angelou

3. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want”-Psalm 23

4.”Ah but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for?”-Robert Browning

5. “I hold it true what’re befall; I feel it when I sorrow most;’tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.”-Alfred Lord Tennyson

6. “This too shall pass”

7. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.”

8. “Happiness is pretty simple-someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to.”-Rita Mae Brown

If anyone has any Birthday advice for me, I’d happily take it…I INTEND to live at least another 54 more years and celebrate 54 more BIRTHDAYS-WOW, I sure WILL be old when that happens!!!