Perhaps the result of the influence of Valentine’s Day, it seems that everyone and their brother is celebrating a birthday this month. By the time this goes to print, I too will have made my annual trek to TCD, and have the privilege of calling myself another year older.

My son is already planning his next birthday party, having only just had one. Meanwhile, I find myself peddling in reverse.

It’s not like it’s a ‘big’ birthday this year but the number sounds pretty big to me. A friend did warn that the years at the end of the decade often feel older than those at the start of even the next one.

But if you push off those ridiculous stereotypes about age and ageing, and put critical self-judgment aside for a moment: isn’t every year we get in this lifetime worth celebrating?

Birthdays should be eagerly awaited milestones of our expanding wisdom and grace — not dreaded markers of our expanding waistline and the battle against gravity.

My little boy told me that a few years ago he got scared the night before my birthday. He worried he’d wake up in the morning and I’d suddenly be an old woman.

I didn’t tell him that I have the same fear.

Have I really bought into society’s ageist misconceptions that ‘young’ is king? Or perhaps I’m just growing ever more aware that our time here is limited, and I feel I’ve got a lot left to do, while the body and the faculties are still complying.

It’s a misplaced fear that ageing is only taking us closer to dying, rather than seeing it as a greater opportunity for living.

When we close our eyes and think of the next decade ahead of us, what do we see? Do we picture a vital, vibrant 40/50/60/70/80/90-year old, buzzing with energy and life, enthusiasm, self-confidence, hope and joy? Why not? These are all there if we choose them, no matter what our driver’s licence says.

Birthdays are the perfect opportunity to take stock and ask, ‘What more living do I want to do this year, and in this lifetime?’

Put another way, if I died tomorrow, what would I regret not doing? But let’s first look back and recognise just how much we’ve already achieved. Then make a list of goals going forward and create the plan to achieve them.

Each year, as we blow out our ever-growing blaze of candles, can we remind ourselves to instead, count our blessings? Another year, even just another day to live well, love well and strive towards our chosen goals is a gift. Never mind a guaranteed excuse to eat cake.

The epitome of Sexy Granny, Sophia Loren says: “There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age.”

Beats Botox.

Julia Pitt is a trained success coach and certified NLP practitioner on the team at Benedict Associates. For further information contact Julia on 705-7488, www.juliapittcoaching.com.