The day this article drops is my now 7-year-old’s birthday. Here are my birthday wishes for my eldest daughter Ellee.

Your Super Power

You have an amazing gift to connect with people and spread your energy. You’ve always possessed a magnetism that people have always gravitated toward.

Take your ability and just do it.

You’re an extrovert. You love people. You’ve asked to invite everyone you know to your birthday party. EVERYONE. Why? Because you want to hang out and play with all the kids you consider friends. And that is just about everyone. You love to connect with people.

So just do it. Embrace bringing people together. Find your power in building inclusion. It’s what you want and a superpower of yours.

And know that bringing everyone together will not happen all the time. Sometimes the people who you want to bring into the mix don’t want to be brought in. That’s okay. Understand that it only means that they are not ready right then.

When you come to a place where you don’t know exactly what to do, lean into people. More often than not, it will workout well for you.

Embrace Your Leadership

You’re a natural leader. I see you with your sister. I see you with friends. I see you with kids in the park you just met.

Be good with that and bring your leadership wherever you travel. The world is craving leaders just like you.

You can bring everyone together. You have great ideas to present. You have the ability to make sure everyone is heard (you just need to be intentional about it since you really want to bring your ideas to life).

Use your energy to create groups and friends. Bring your energy into groups. Smile your big smile. Use your big energy.

This is an area you shine.

Find the fun

You love fun. Whenever you’re having fun, you’re all in. You learn more. You have more joy.

In my estimation, fun is a top value for you. You want to do things that you deem to be fun. Makes sense. You are a kid. And, I know some grown ups to really value fun (your Dad among them).

So, find the fun in what you do. It’s easy to make the naturally fun stuff fun. How can you make EVERYTHING fun?

What do you find fun in reading? How do you have fun in  the math learning program? Where is the fun in trying new things that you may/may not be good at yet?

Truth is, there’s fun to be found everywhere. Sometimes you just have to look a little harder to find it. You find the fun, you’ll do the greatest things.

Above all, know you’re loved

You are loved. You get a “daddy note” with your lunch everyday. It’s a thought that I have you for the day. I’m sure you like some notes more than others. You might not even understand some of them.

What I hope you get above all the daily words, is love. I want to send you a reminder during the school day that you are loved.

On the days when you accomplish something great (like earning a badge at school or losing a tooth) you are loved. On days where I am not being the best Dad and showing you that you’re loved, you are loved. On days when maybe you’re acting in an unkind way, you are still loved.

My hope is the love that we have for you will ignite the love you have for yourself. Because that’s the love that can matter most of all.

Happy birthday! Maybe the coming year increases the shine that you have inside of you and that you share with the world. May you learn, try, do new things. May you get knocked down, pick yourself up, dust off and continue on with your unwavering smile knowing that you got this. May you have more laughter, more joy and continue to grow into the hero that you are meant to be.

Love,

Dad