My First Birthday

My First Birthday

By Ivelina Simeonova

2 min read

Today, I celebrate my birthday.

Do you know who else shares this date with me?

Eighteen million people around the world —

because October 6th is World Cerebral Palsy Day.

One day, I asked God:

“Lord, what is the mission of my life? I don’t want to waste another day without doing what I was born to do”. Not long after, I came across an article about a little boy from Bulgaria living with cerebral palsy — on a beautifully designed, lovingly created website made by his parents. It wasn’t a coincidence, of course.

Over the past four and a half years — since my daughter was born and, later, on her first birthday, received her own special “gift” of cerebral palsy — I have completed five master’s degrees and three doctorates, and I am now on my way to becoming a professor in the field. (I am joking)

On that website, there was an image of the Earth encircled by a blue ring, with a message that read:

“October 6th — World Cerebral Palsy Day.”

I remember vividly the day God answered me. I realise that the life doesn’t have to be perfect to be beautiful. And this — this is not a burden, but a blessing: the chance to turn pain into wisdom, suffering into purpose, and sorrow into a bridge that reaches beyond the limits of human possibility.

To do something that truly matters to someone else.

To give to those from whom you know you’ll receive nothing in return.

To wake up and fall asleep with the quiet knowing that your day had meaning.

To walk a path where every step leaves a trace that helps another move forward.

To bring light where darkness lingers, and hope where everything seems lost.

And why should this ever be the end, when it can be the first page of the most beautiful chapter in our story? What is the mission of my life? It’s the path where every step is made of faith, strength, and heart.

And you — have you asked God what your mission in life is?