Happy Birthday Ms. Ortiz!

I was born on October 13, 1968, so today is my 45th birthday. This day has always been special to me. It is like my Christmas, and not because I get material gifts, but because I get the greatest gift of all...to live one more year, to celebrate life.

At my age I feel totally accomplished as a woman, a professional and a mother. I am in a good place, that place in which I made peace with myself. My whole life has been a metamorphosis, a constant process of evolution, but my biggest growth didn't start until I was 39 years old. When I realized I wasn't who I was supposed to be. I had been entrusted with a life and I wasn't being a great caretaker. I was given gifts that I kept to myself and didn't share. I was unhappy in most areas of my life and it showed. At that moment I made the decision to change, and boy I did. 

I let go of the past and welcome the future, decided to enjoy the present and the now, decided to embrace myself, even the qualities that I deemed unflattering and decided to own my actions and consequences of it. I stopped putting so much weight on other's opinions because at the end of day it was mine the one that really matter. I gained a new appreciation for my children, as they are my most precious gift, and a new perspective for life. As I get older I realized that life isn't so much about me, but about the imprint that I leave in the world I live in, and how that will impact the ones around me. It is all about the bigger picture, and I am a small but important part of it. 

I am stronger than I have ever been, and more selective with the people that I choose to be around. I surround myself with people that contribute to a richer life. I have great friends that make my life richer and challenge me every day to be a better person. I could have never asked for a better life, and I deserve it. I am at the top of my list and because my needs are satisfied I am a better mother, a better daughter, a better sister, and better human being. I don't need to live my life through others. I lost that sense of selfishness that is attached to the younger years and found joy in giving to others, without expecting anything back.

No birthday will be complete without a birthday wish and I have a few:

1. Peace for the world

2. Long, healthy and productive life for my children

3. Social equality

4. A partner that loves me for who I am, without trying to change me, and that loves my children like if they were his own.

Happy birthday to me!

1990                     2013