I’m that oddball who doesn’t like birthdays.<\/p>\n
It’s not that they’ve ever done anything to me\u2014I just somehow tend to avoid them.<\/p>\n
And it’s not because I mind getting older.<\/p>\n
Actually, I’m quite happy to carry the “weight” of my years.<\/p>\n
Every birthday, I find myself repeating the same little prayer:<\/p>\n
“Would I trade it…?”<\/p>\n
And every single time, when I honestly answer myself,<\/p>\n
“No. There’s nothing I’d trade it for,”<\/p>\n
I feel completely at peace.<\/p>\n
I just celebrated another birthday.<\/p>\n
No cake.<\/p>\n
No candles.<\/p>\n
Just out in the countryside.<\/p>\n
Barefoot.<\/p>\n
Instead of a handbag, I had a bucket slung over my arm for the fish we’d just caught.<\/p>\n
And on my head was a funny little children’s cap, protecting me from the first long-awaited sunshine so it wouldn’t leave my face sprinkled with new age spots.<\/p>\n
“What would you like for your birthday?” my husband asked a few days before the big day.<\/p>\n
Usually I mumble something like,<\/p>\n
“Oh, nothing… I already have everything…”<\/p>\n
before eventually settling on,<\/p>\n
“Maybe another bottle of perfume…?”<\/p>\n
This time, I answered without a second’s hesitation:<\/p>\n
“Crocs.”<\/p>\n
“What? Rubber boots?” he asked, convinced he’d misheard me.<\/p>\n
“Yep. Rubber boots,” I confirmed.<\/p>\n
“But nice ones, okay? In my color. And with those fun little charms.”<\/p>\n
On the morning of my birthday,<\/p>\n
I received exactly what I’d dreamed of.<\/p>\n
A pair of Crocs\u2014with a little heart charm that read:<\/p>\n
“You’re my soulmate.”<\/p>\n
A bottle of sparkling wine.<\/p>\n
And a cocktail.<\/p>\n
“It couldn’t be more me,” I said, genuinely delighted.<\/p>\n
Well…<\/p>\n
Actually…<\/p>\n
There were also two extra charms: a glowing butterfly and a glitter-filled heart.<\/p>\n
Seeing my expression, my beloved quickly explained:<\/p>\n
“They had a promotion. Buy three, get two free… so I just took them.<\/p>\n
I figured that if you didn’t like them, maybe Patrikas would.”<\/p>\n
Mykolas declared they were<\/p>\n
“very glamorous.”<\/p>\n
Dominykas was simply happy that I would finally stop borrowing his Crocs.<\/p>\n
I tried convincing Patricija to take the two charms I wasn’t entirely sold on.<\/p>\n
She politely declined.<\/p>\n
So…<\/p>\n
I stuck those on my new dusty-rose Crocs too.<\/p>\n
They’re lovely.<\/p>\n
And every day they’ll remind me of my forty-first birthday.<\/p>\n
After such a wonderfully carefree weekend in the countryside,<\/p>\n
after receiving the Crocs I’d been dreaming about\u2014with their tiny declaration of love\u2014<\/p>\n
and after reading everyone’s birthday wishes,<\/p>\n
I found myself thinking today:<\/p>\n
How wonderful it is to carry the “weight” of the years.<\/p>\n
To know what I want.<\/p>\n
To celebrate the way I enjoy celebrating,<\/p>\n
instead of the way other people think I should.<\/p>\n
And most importantly,<\/p>\n
to hear all the beautiful wishes,<\/p>\n
say “thank you,”<\/p>\n
and not feel the need to set another list of goals or grand strategic plans for the year ahead.<\/p>\n
Instead…<\/p>\n
to simply enjoy this moment.<\/p>\n
And to run everything through one simple filter:<\/p>\n
“God, please leave everything just as it is.”
\nCould life be better?<\/p>\n
More?<\/p>\n
More perfect?<\/p>\n
More ideal?<\/p>\n
Maybe.<\/p>\n
But…<\/p>\n
I can happily live without all of that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-23843","istorija","type-istorija","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.devbrothers.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija\/23843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.devbrothers.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/istorija"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.devbrothers.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/istorija"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/viktorijos.devbrothers.lt\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}