August 24, 2007
Rev. Regina Maria Cross

Today is my Birthday! Well, not today the day you are reading this but today the day I am writing this.

Birthdays are extra special days in that they truly are our Day of Birth into this incarnation. So often I hear disappointment in peoples voices and words and see their bodily reaction when you mention their birthday. I am just as often sadly surprised in what appears to be their lack of gratitude. Hello! You have a birthday to celebrate! You are still here!

That is what the Birth Day is all about…You are here! You got here by what ever means you may believe…fate, free will, destiny, rebirth, your sacred contract with God or maybe you just haven’t got a clue but you got here and you have a Birth Day.

When I was a little girl, both my Mom’s and my Birthdays got lost in the sauce of family vacation but we knew, we knew together our Birthdays were only five days apart and we thought that pretty special.

My Mom’s Birthday was just last week and I do still 10 years after her passing celebrate her special day. I woke that morning thinking if she were still here she would be 88 years in life today. She would have been a beautiful 88-year Lady. So, I celebrated doing what I know she would have loved to do and that was antiquing. Kenny, Asti and I went off to the Ocean City Convention Center to the Antique Show and Sale to celebrate Mom. Good Fun! I realized to proceed in celebration of her Birthday is the continuation in imagination of her incarnation. It’s better than being sad she isn’t here because I do miss her but I’d rather celebrate the fact that she was here and I got to know her and because she was here I am here as I am, her daughter. Thanks Mom and Happy Birthday.

I do love the silly Birthday cards like the one we sent our got a few years on us brother-in-law, “Were you really sad when the dinosaurs died?” or the one we sent our brother who was freaking out about turning 50. Oh, Please! On the front was a plate with eggs, bacon, (he is a vegan by the way) white toast and a glass of orange juice. When you open the card it reads, “Welcome to Senior Discount.” It’s all good fun when someone is freaking out but did you know there might be a difference between your Chronological Age, Biological Age and Psychological Age?

Chronological Age is how old you are by the calendar. Biological Age is how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes. Psychological Age is how old you feel you are.

Chronological Age is of course fixed and personally I think this is what scares people because quite frankly they are thinking inside the box (no pun intended) in terms of less life rather than unlimited possibilities. Happy Birthday Grand Ma Moses!
Biological Age is changeable in that we can change less than healthy habits adding exercise, eating healthy, meditation, breathing fully, enhancing our home and work environment with peaceful serenity. Personally I know I am younger than I use to be since making the wise decision allowing those I love to be who they are versus my trying to “help” them be who I think they want to be. Wow, I can barely admit to that anymore.

Psychological Age being the most personal and mysterious is also the one out of the three that holds the most promise for reversing the very Birthday phobia folks have and that is the aging process, as in the fear that is going through your body right now when you read the word, “old”.

Old is good, you got here…notice I said you…Even as the folks at Cold Stone Creamery (I am not a saint yet!) sang Happy Birthday to me, I did correct them in their thought process of my getting old, “I am not getting old as I have a Timeless Mind and Ageless Body”, the title of very good book by the way by Dr. Deepak Chopra, M.D.

As Mary Ann Soule so eloquently states: “If we continue to succumb to modern America’s stereotypic vision of aging, fearing the changes in our bodies, resisting the natural transitions of life, and avoiding the unknown territory of death, we will deny ourselves and the whole of civilization the gifts of age: mature perspective, seasoned creativity and spiritual vision.”

Change your mind and your body will follow. Celebration opportunity comes everyday because you did get here by whatever means you believe. Celebrate your decision especially on the day you choose to be birthed.

My wish for you is more joy than the ocean is deep, more love than the sky is wide, more blessings than shells on the shore and a feeling of peace deep inside your being.

As the song goes;
“There’s never a wish better than this when you only got a 100 years to live.”

Happy Birthday whenever it is, you are worth the celebration. It’s Just A Thought.

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You can learn more about your Chronological, Biological and Psychological Ages as well as classes, workshops and retreats held at Light Paths, Centre For The Healing Arts and The Sophia School of Wisdom by checking our website at www.light-paths.org or calling 410-758-3589.