I recently celebrated my birthday, and it brought up the talk with some people of how stupid they think celebrating birthdays are or how they don't believe they should be celebrated as much as some are. I agreed on some parts and tried to play it off that my birthday doesn't mean that much to me, but in reality it does. You see I look a each birthday I celebrate or I get to help someone else celebrate is a huge victory. Victory over so many different things. For some it's a victory over an illness or disease; for others it's a victory over addiction; and for me and I believe many others it's a victory over your mind.

In this crazy hard and crazy amazing world we live in illnesses, diseases, and addictions exist. I remember in high school I had this friend who spent the better part of a year in a comma and more than a year in the ICU and each year after as this journey went on, sometimes he was in the hospital for it and others he was at home, but he lived to see another year. And now he's completely healed and just recently celebrated yet another birthday. He and whomever else suffers or did suffer from a disease or illness or addiction. Congrats on making it another year! You deserve that special day to celebrate proudly your victory of still being here in this world.

I've written on this topic before, but for purposes of this article I want to say that I have anxiety and depression and some of the most amazing people in my life suffer from one or both of those too. So every year on their birthday or on my own, it's a victory. It's a victory over the thoughts in your head that tell you it won't get better, that there is nothing better. A victory over your mind telling you what happened was your fault. A victory over the thoughts that tell you, you are a terrible person/friend/sibling. A victory that on your worst possible days you didn't listen to those thoughts in your head telling you to give up because no one cares. And to you, anyone this relates to, and myself that are going through these things when you get to celebrate a birthday, it is one of the greatest victories of all. To the people that this relates to, remember that. So have your countdowns until your birthday, throw yourself or your friends a party, buy the balloons, and celebrate your victory of living one more year because it all really does get better.

So to the people who hate birthdays or don't think they should be celebrated I hope this gives you an insight on why you could be wrong, and to the people struggling with anything brought up above, celebrate your victory as loud and big and amazing as you possibly can because you deserve it, Happy Celebrating!