Today's my dad's birthday. I picked up some pizzas on the way home from work, and mom picked up a birthday cake this weekend. In a few minutes, we'll gather in their living room and celebrate. It'll be smaller than our birthday celebrations have been in the past, but that's become normal for 2020. And smaller isn't always a bad thing.

I love the extra effort people have put into celebrating and the different ways people have found. Who would have ever thought that we'd have parades of cars driving by and honking on birthdays? Who had movie watch parties with family and friends across the country or the globe before the COVID quarantine? I used to avoid being in photographs, and I strongly dislike making phone calls – but I absolutely love making video calls! Just being able to see the person on the other end of the line – seeing their gestures and the faces they're making – adds a whole new dimension to the conversation.

We've developed some great new strategies and behaviors while adapting to this new normal.

Which is part of how life goes on.

We experience something negative. It causes a paradigm shift in our lives as we either adapt or slip into denial and fight it. Sometimes we have to go through the denial and fighting to get to the adapting part. But once we're open to changing, we grow. We improve. Our relationships benefit, our celebrations benefit, we benefit.

Life is so different than it was when we celebrated my father's birthday last year.

But life is still really good.

Enjoy today!