“Live for Loving YOU” – A Birthday Reflection

Since my motivation blog posts every Monday, and this one happens to be my birthday, I thought of sharing with you some of the things I was journaling about last night as I waited to welcome this new year of my life at 12:00 am.

Grateful, that’s the first thing I wrote. To God for giving me life, Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and all the saints that patiently listen to all my worries and intercede for me in my most desperate times. Not one day goes by without acknowledging my gratitude to the invisible higher force or energy that I know is there, and with which I join forces to create the life I’m living. I am mindfully aware that having the chance to live one more day of life is truly a miraculous gift that we receive, one that, in the craziness of day-to-day life, I take for granted sometimes.

As I kept listing all the things that I am grateful for, the playlist of my favorite songs was shuffling as background music, something I do when I want to write things that truly come from the heart, it is an easy way for me to reconnect with what’s important to me.

“Live for Loving YOU” by Gloria Estefan has always been my absolute favorite song, it was released in 1991 in an album brilliantly titled “Into the Light”. Maybe because that’s the year I turned 18 and life as an adult was really starting, a song about loving someone so much and finding happiness was appealing to me. It could also be because that song has an incredibly contagious beat, in any case, the song just came with me for my life’s ride. I’ve danced it and sang to it from the top of my lungs too many times to count, and it is my go-to song when I need cheering up.

And yet, when it played and I started to quietly sing to it, something incredibly strange happened. For the first time in 30 years (yes, there you have it, I’m turning 48!) I didn’t sing it thinking of anyone else. For the first time, I sang it from a different source, and then it hit me. I was dedicating it to myself.

“Baby, it’s YOU and ME”. My conscious self and my unconscious one befriending each other, finding congruence, being truly one.

Magic happens when we are able to align both, that’s when we are living the life we are meant to live. When we allow the inner voice (unconscious and mystical) to speak louder and we lower the volume and noise of our conscious selves (our ego, our judgement, the society labels) we are finally able to understand and accept ourselves in a very empowering way. Putting oneself first and being a bit selfish about it, is crucial to finding the language of one’s soul. I believe that falling in love with oneself is probably a big part of what our life’s mission is about because it requires mastering forgiveness, self-acceptance, and self-esteem. I am a work in progress, but what better to work on if it’s not on myself?

As I begin a new year of my life, blessed and grateful with having my parents and siblings still in my life, an incredible husband, and two amazing children, I am doing something I’ve never intentionally done before, I’m honoring ME, because at the end of the day, we like it or not, life is in many ways a “solo-flight”. Noone can fight our fights for us, live our sorrows and our happiness for us. We have to do it all by ourselves, and if we don’t spend enough time befriending our own soul and giving it the self-care it needs, the journey will not be a fulfilling one.

I am happy because this birthday I am gifting my favorite song to myself. What song would you dedicate to yourself if you realized that you have fallen in love with YOU! Would love for you to share it in the comments!

Here are the lyrics to mine:

LIVE FOR LOVING YOU – By Gloria Estefan

Lying awake I turn to you as you are softly sleeping.
I think of what I’d like to do while you are
Somewhere dreaming.
I, I feel so happy by your side, oh why, I
Wonder, wonder, wonder why.
Find it hard to find the words to say what
I am feeling.
I’m so in love, I’m so alive and I know you’re
The reason, why
Why I’m so crazy (happy) all the time, oh why,
I wonder, wonder, wonder why.

I need nothing else in live than to hold you
I, oh , I am in so deep I don’t need no sleep
Just baby you and me.

Baby, I live for loving you, oh la, la, la, la…
Live for loving you, all I wanna do is love you,
Love you

It would never cross my mind to find another lover.
‘Cause after having been with you, there could
Be no other.
I, just touching you I’m satisfied, oh why,
I wonder, wonder, wonder why.