Today is my birthday and I took the day off. I didn’t always do this.
There was a time when the demands of life, usually my job, took priority over my own birthday. I had important things to do, so I told myself, even though throughout the day I would imagine places I would rather be. But, year after year, there I was….at work. I wasn’t the only one. Others would come to work on their birthdays expecting at least a card or a fifteen minute afternoon break where coworkers would gather around the obligatory birthday cake. Isn’t it funny how no one knows what to do at these things? Do we sing? Can we ask how old they are? Or do we just cut into the cake and slither out casually when no one is looking?
Don’t get me wrong. People like to celebrate their birthdays and going to work to get showered with well wishes is not a bad thing. It feels good to be recognized but, you still have to do work. What if it could be better than that? So, here are three reasons why taking the day off on your birthday is good for you.
Reason 1: You get to do WHATEVER you want. There are no rules. You want to sleep all day then sleep all day. You want to pamper yourself, do that. Eat your birthday cake for breakfast? That’s okay too. Now, I know some of you will do some work at home. If you do, carve out an hour and be done with it. Then go back to what you really want to do. Don’t know? It doesn’t matter.
Reason 2: You don’t have to coordinate anything with anyone. Birthday celebrations with people can be a lot of fun but that often entails coordinating with others. Save group celebrations for the weekend when the energy in the air is different. When you take the day off on your birthday, usually others still go to work. It’s not their birthday. Stress is greatly reduced because you are choosing for yourself and no one will get their feelings hurt when their plans for you don’t match yours.
Reason 3: Skip the guilt! Expectations from work are often big influencers of behavior. If people expect you to be at work because you have always done so in the past, it will take some time to change this. Start telling people at work that you are going to make it a tradition to take your birthday off. You will then begin to set a precedent of behavior that creates a new expectation. The guilt will dissipate over time; usually a short period of time because you’ll quickly grow to love reasons one and two above.
At the end of the day, remember you only get a birthday one day out of 365. Plus, people who really care about you will still reach out with well wishes. I thoroughly enjoyed my day off today doing exactly what I wanted. I would never go back to what I used to do. Now, did I do some work? Well, I did write this article but, it was fun. Isn’t that what your birthday is supposed to be about after all?
P.S. If your birthday lands on a weekend, please disregard this article. Not really. Pick the following Monday.
Thelma