Mindfulness Daily Check-In June 19, 2018
Hello everyone and happy Tuesday!
How is everyone doing today? 
As we all know, 7 Cups of Teas birthday is here (Im celebrating it this whole month)! This wonderful community has grown, expanded, and improved immensely as well as helped provide a great amount of support and understanding for a ton of people all over the world (including myself)! I am very thankful for being a part of this wonderful community, and I would like to wish 7 Cups of Tea a very special happy birthday! <3
Speaking of birthdays, there are a number of ways to celebrate our birthday mindfully!
Remember Its Not About You: Birthdays often put a lot of pressure on us due to social media, parties, gifts, and more. As a result, our expectations are often high and our disappointment is usually worse. However, the best way to celebrate is to focus on enjoying being alive, and you do not have to make it about you. Take a breathe, meditate, observe the world around you, and just be mindful.
Reflect on a Year of Living: Instead of focusing on regrets, take the time to reflect on what a whole year of life has held for you. Think about all of the surprises, little accomplishments, smalls acts of kindness, courage, and determination that happened. If we look for these moments, we will find them scattered throughout our life and this is a great time to appreciate the vast content that occurred within a year of life.
Set Goals: After reflecting on the past, its time to look forward towards the future. Write a personal mission statement. Make some new vows. Make small, achievable goals. Write them down and post them somewhere where you can see them easily and often. The actions that we take today are a gift to our future self. Start next years birthday gift to yourself today!
Ease Up on Restrictions: Finally, give yourself a break on some of your restrictions today. Eat some cake. Goof around. Have fun or relax. You can spend a little more time next week working on making it up. Being too strict with ourselves wears ourselves out, and so it is important to ease up on restrictions every now and then. It is perfectly fine and healthy to break a few small rules as part of our routine, and your birthday is the perfect time to do this!
Some questions for today:
What is your favorite mindful birthday activity mentioned above?
What is your favorite way to be mindful on your birthday?
Is there anything that you would like to add or suggest?
To add or remove your name, please submit this short form https://goo.gl/NQxyyb
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@SaimaK
Hey SaimaK
, let's celebrate 7cups Birthday, got the cake still in the oven, shall i take it out?
What is your favorite mindful birthday activity mentioned above? Ease on restrictions a little, just for birthday, then back to routine
What is your favorite way to be mindful on your birthday? Sit or walk somewhere, smelling the fresh breeze, let the wind stroke my hair, chat with a neighbour - FEEL LIFE BE ALIVE
@amiablePeace77 Hi Peace!
Hehehe, would you mind? Thank you for helping! Would you like to decorate the cakes together?
I also liked that mindful birthday activity as well, and sitting somewhere just to take everything in and feel alive is so amazing!
Thank you for sharing, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day! 

@SaimaK thanks for this interesting post on birthdays. For me I use mindfulness so every day is a "re-birthday" where I am born into a new perception and awareness through mindfulness. It may be little things but for me it creates a sense of adventure and open mindedness while I remain open to new insights and observations. Try it and see if you find a little more excitement in your day.
@soulsings Hi Soul!
That is such a beautiful way to be mindful. I try to do that as often as I can. Some days, it is not easy, but it is a beautiful process.
Thank you so much for sharing, Soul, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your day (or evening)! 

Birthdays are hard for me. Its as you said about higher expectations leading to great disappointment. I am definitely grateful to be alive, despite the times my mind tries to convince me of the opposite.
@Longing4peace
To me the most important thought/feeling - grateful to be alive.
@amiablePeace77 I agree peace that is most important to be alive and aware of it.