> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://thedreampedlar.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # happy birthday to me! - URL: https://thedreampedlar.com/happy-birthday-to-me-4/ - Published: 2023-11-20T18:04:39.000Z - Updated: 2023-11-20T18:05:05.000Z - Description: Celebrating 43 revolutions around the sun, and making my birthday wishes for this year! - Author: Anitha Krishnan - Tags: life, unadulterated, the creative life Today, I turn a year older, a year wiser. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd really like to have this year, how I'd like to grow, things like that ... I keep coming to the same conclusions year after year ... it's not a larger house or more money or more travel or more social events that I hanker for ... I'm still a sucker for beautiful stationery though! Beautifully designed notebooks, journals, pens, pencils, pencil crayons, markers ... I love them unabashedly! Other than those, what I want more of in my life though is the ability to incorporate the serenity prayer. > *God, please grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.* As I grow older, the more I find that a whole lot of life is not in my control. Whether I win or lose. What others think of me. What others like and don't like. What happens when I try my best. None of these are in my control. It's also naïve to assume that I can keep trying and keep going on in the face of defeat/failure without pause or respite, without support or encouragement, either from myself or from loved ones. So, on this very special day of the year, this is my wish. > *To go through life with much joy and grace.* > *To follow my dreams with passion, not envy.* > *To love without hurting. To receive love as much as being able to give it.* > *To accept the messiness of life yet not lose my focus in the midst of it all.* > *To live my life not trying to run away from all that is scary but embracing all the highs and lows.* > *And trusting myself, trusting the Universe, simply trusting that come what may, I can keep on trying, I can keep going on, for as long as I live. And* that *alone is enough.* ![Me standing on a sidewalk full of fallen yellow leaves](https://thedreampedlar.com/content/images/2023/11/101.-Happy-birthday-to-me-.jpeg) Yours truly! Happy birthday to me!