What Dr. Seuss knew about turning 50

Today on this day of days, the calendar flips over and I pause. I have been alive for 18,263 days. Significant, no? Yes, today I enter my 50's as a new initiate. I have this feeling of starting over, of being a freshman again.I have approached this birthday with curiosity, wondering how I would feel about it. I have several friends also turning 50 this year and I have heard everything from worry to shock to dismay. But I don't really feel any of those things. I am most struck by wonder -- have fifty years really gone by already?! And I'm struck by the sense of a new beginning, a new era.I like to start new things with an intention. Anyone who has taken my class, Seven Days to Sanctuary, knows how much I love intentions. And today seems like a perfect day for a fresh one.So here we go.This year I intend to EXPAND. Some of the things I want to expand are:

• My mind
• My ability to cope with the zaniness life throws at me
• My horizons
• My ability to show love to the people around me
• My compassion
• The quality of my leadership
• The stillness inside me
• My retirement savings (hey, don't we all?)
• My sanctuary practice
• My understanding of the political landscape so I can vote with clarity and intelligence this November
• My focus on what is truly meaningful to me
• The number of minutes I spend laughing
• My ability to swallow pills without gagging (this is a thing for me)
• My productivity system (David Allen and his Getting Things Done has revolutionized my 40's, can you imagine what will happen in my 50's?!)
• My perspective
• My Lisa-ness (what is this? Read on!)

And of course there are a few things I don't want to expand as well:

• My waistline
• My frustration at the wrongs in our world today
• My fear of what might happen
• My debt owed to Bank of America, specifically

So what happens with this newfound awareness? The biggest revelation is that I have never been more ME than I am, right now, today.  And that is a magical, beautiful thing.Dr. Seuss said, "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you."I think he might have been writing that to me, in honor of my birthday. Thank you, Dr. Seuss. Sometimes we all need permission to be more ourselves and less what we think the world expects us to be.So what about YOU? What makes you youer than you? I'd love to hear. Tell me in the comments below.With love, gratitude and sips of champagne (after all, it's a special day),Lisa