Of course, birthdays are life giving!

Our first birthday is the very gift of life; and in our early years we look forward to birthdays as times when we can receive gifts; often much needed presents as we grow and become adults. My mother, in her nineties now, still likes to give me the gift of a new pair of shoes on my birthday, some habits are hard to break.

As adults we start looking forward to other people’s birthdays as a time of celebration and a time when we can give something as a sign of love and affection.

However, as time progresses, and we no longer have so many material “needs” the habit of birthdays continues, and we’ve all both given and received gifts that are maybe not quite what is wanted or needed.

The celebration of life is important, so too the very real activity of bringing life to others and the delight of meeting another’s needs with a gift from our heart.

Two people have reinvented their birthdays...

Maureen & Cherie have both recently celebrated their birthdays and they made sure that they were life-giving occasions.

Maureen invited all her friends and family members to make a gift to IGWR-Nepal for her birthday. She still had the celebration with friends, we still drank champagne, but the presents for Maureen became life-giving gifts to the children in Nepal.

Cherie organised a party, with live music and delicious Nepalese food provided, a great celebration; and once again she asked that gifts be made to IGWR-Nepal; another life-giving birthday celebration.

Together, they’ve given two children an education for a year and living expenses for a year in one of the IGWR houses.

A life-giving birthday is truly something to celebrate.

In breaking the habit of birthday gifts that began in our childhood and reinventing the life-celebration as an act of collective philanthropy, we become creators of real birthdays.

It is amazingly inspiring and rewarding to bring together a circle of friends and celebrate the fact that we can (together) make a difference and bring life to another.

“The meaning of life is to find your gift.

The purpose of life is to give it away.”

Pablo Picasso