Beating Cancer in Heels: Every day is my birthday

I recently celebrated my 31^st birthday and I did not plan anything! For many years, I made a big deal about my special day. Clubs, limos, tons of friends and all at someplace awesome was mostly how I spent the special night.

I use to get so caught up in the act of the actual celebration that I didn’t stop enough to think about what it is I was actually celebrating. That was before cancer, of course. After you are diagnosed with a life-threatening illness, every day is your birthday and don’t you ever forget that!

This year, I decided not to plan and I was presently surprised. My birthday weekend turned out to be about the ones who are the closest to me, the ones who know that on this day I need extra love because they know just how much I value this time and they came through in the most loving way.

Not planning gave me an opportunity to be surprised at whatever life had in store for me. It wound up being a perfect day because others took time out to make me feel special and loved, and that is exactly what a birthday is all about: Others letting you know that they are happy that you are here another year!

Letting go and not controlling everything left me a day full of surprises. I even go two new ear piercings. Why? Because one, I am bringing the ‘90s back and two, I wanted to do something that made me feel alive again.

While I sat in the chair waiting to make a minor permanent decision, I thought to myself, “How lucky am I to be alive to do something so out of character.” I can’t wait to do this again and maybe it will be tomorrow because every day is my birthday!

Since you should be celebrating life every day, how will you start? You, my Coachee, deserve more surprises and I am going to teach you how to do just that. Let’s get some surprises entering in your life because that’s what you deserve!

How can you create more surprises in your life?

Tell others how much surprises mean to you.

Be present in the unexpected moments.

Plan surprise moments for others.

Plan less for yourself and let others take control.

Expect less.

Allow yourself to be surprised.

Appreciate the small moments.

Let go of being a perfectionist and see how you like it.

Empowerment tip: If the outcome leaves you with disappointments, remember no one is perfect. You know what really matters in the beautiful life; everything else is just extra!

Inspiration for the week: This is a very extreme surprise but hey, you never know! http://bit.ly/1lh0aNz.

Calming sentence of the week: I allow myself to be surprised because I deserve to be pleasantly surprised.

That’s it for today, Coachee! Stay tuned for more tips and stories from your Life Coach Marlena!

If you are interested in being coached one on one please contact me at [email protected].  You can also follow me on Facebook, Marlena Ortiz.

I am offering half off 12 coaching sessions with me throughout the summer to all my Home Reporter readers. Contact me and mention the code #ILOVETheHomeReporter!

REMEMBER: Women between the ages of 20-40 diagnosed with Cancer get 6 free Life Coaching sessions through the nonprofit BeatingCancerInHeels.org.