There’s something about holidays that bring out the worst in people. Now don’t read this and think I’m some sour, crusty old man who is a Grinch and who steals people’s pumpkins at Halloween. I need to let you know, however, that in terms of a social opportunity I think holidays are for amateurs.

Everybody gears up for three days out of the year: Halloween, New Year’s Eve and The 4th of July. The drunken women who are counting down “5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 …” are the same drunken women who are going “Woo Hoo!” when the fireworks go off on The 4th of July, and they are the same drunken women who dress up in the hooker outfits for Halloween to tease all the men (and who you will see throwing up in the corner into a big plastic pumpkin!)

Holidays are a blast: hanging out with friends, barbecuing, sucking down a few beers, getting corn stuck in your teeth, and eating some low-quality hamburger meat. But searching for and thinking that a magical party on The 4th of July is going to yield you the social results that have evaded you the rest of the year is a crock of shit! The 4th of July is just one day. The expectations on holidays never equal the results.

In order to create real fireworks in your life, you need to be working on your flirting skills every day. Even if you are at the coolest party on The 4th of July, you’re still bringing your lack of social skills with you. There’s no magic pill in order to meet the opposite sex, you have to work on those skills every single day.

For those of you that hooked up on The 4th of July – Congratulations! For the rest of you, you need to realize that you better start learning how to flirt and how to meet people every single day. Otherwise, come Halloween you’re going to be the one puking into that plastic pumpkin.

Today is my birthday. For those of you who don’t know, July 1st was the day I sprung out of my mother’s belly. The sad thing about this, though, was that it took me eighteen years to get back to that warm feeling all over again.

It’s amazing, because ever since I left my Mom’s belly I’ve thought “Boy, it’s nice in there. I can’t wait to get back in!” I was a poor tortured virgin throughout my entire high school career, and was not allowed back in until the ripe old age of eighteen in college.

This blog, however, is not about losing my virginity. This blog is about my birthday. For those who have not yet sent a present, you know what I like. If, on the other hand, you don’t know what I like then I’d suggest that you use your creativity because at this stage of my life I don’t expect presents from anybody.

I’m not big into birthdays, and I’m not big into presents . . . even though my intern Rey bought me the coolest present in the world: a Labrador Retriever mug that has a snout as the handle. So I was holding onto Daphne at all times when I was drinking my tea.

Anyone who has hung out in my office or in my house knows that I tend to drink a lot of tea. No, I’m not British – I just l don’t like coffee. Plus, it’s herbal tea and I’m a Californian. This blog is also not about tea or thanking Rey for the great present (which I already did).

This blog is about how you should celebrate your birthday. I’m celebrating my birthday by going to Hawaii. When I get on the airplane to Hawaii in a few hours, I am going to enjoy a fantastic birthday dinner. The dinner will be unbelievable (I’m going to bring a box of food from Whole Foods). I may even indulge — I may actually allow the flight attendant to get me a drink of water (as I usually bring my own).

What I will spend most of my time on this flight doing, though, is reflecting about how amazing the past year has been. You see, your birthday is not about getting presents or getting drunk. Your birthday is about celebrating life.

Your birthday is about celebrating everything in your life that’s amazing. It’s about celebrating the past year of your life and seeing how much you’ve grown. It’s about reflecting. It’s about embracing all the friendships you’ve had. It’s about appreciating everything. It’s about spoiling the one person you need to spoil every day – yourself.

So that’s why I’m taking myself to Hawaii for my birthday. I am going to sit on a beautiful beach for the next six days relaxing and reading . . . and I am going to celebrate what an amazing year it’s been. Who knows, I might even try surfing. I will definitely do yoga and eat great food.

I’m going to celebrate what to me has been one of the best years of my life, because getting older means embracing your life every single day. Although I don’t expect presents for my birthday, I am going to think about how many gifts I’ve been given this past year.

I have been gifted this year with so many great clients with whom I’ve gotten to work and with all of you readers of my blog. I have been gifted with all the fantastic people who work for me and with me to help to build up a great business.

So this year on my birthday, I’m embracing all of the great things that have happened to me over the past year. My only birthday wish is that I will continue to make every day better than the last day.