• There are many good reasons to celebrate a birthday.happy birthday image by Michael Kempf from Fotolia.com
  
  Birthdays, the anniversaries of the specific date on which a person was born, are commonly celebrated with gifts and happy birthday wishes. Many reasons exist to wish somebody a happy birthday, and although most stem from caring about the person in question, not all of them do.
  
  

Because You Care

• Keep track of the birthdays of your loved ones and be ready to celebrate with them each year to show how much they matter to you.
  
  

To Get Back In Touch

• As you go through life and move from place to place, you may end up losing touch with people who were once very close to you, such as old school friends or neighbors. Wishing them a happy birthday is a perfect excuse to get back in touch and potentially rekindle the old bond between you.
  
  

To Make Someone Smile

• Sometimes when a person is going through hard times, knowing that you care about him enough to remember his birthday is enough to cheer him up and make him smile.
  
  

Because It's Polite

• Even if you don't particularly care about certain people, it is polite and socially acceptable to wish them a happy birthday anyway. This is the case with anybody you may know in a professional setting, such as your colleagues and your boss, as well as any casual acquaintances.
  
  

To Mend Fences

• If you had an argument with a friend, wishing her a happy birthday might rekindle the frienship and get rid of any bad blood between the two of you.
  
  

To Make a Good Impression

• When you are trying to get closer to someone you don't yet know very well, finding out when she was born and wishing her a happy birthday might help you make a good impression.
  
  

To Celebrate Life

• Human life is fleeting and finite; each birthday you celebrate with your loved ones is a celebration of the time you have been able to spend together and a wish for more happy days like this one in the future.
  
  

To Enjoy Togetherness

• Birthdays are frequently a community affair, bringing together close and distant friends and relatives in a celebration of a loved one's birthday. By wishing somebody happy birthday, you are joining in this celebration and participating in the community.
  
  

To Return the Favor

• Do your best to keep track of the birthdays of anybody who has wished you a happy birthday in the past and return the favor when their birthdays come.
  
  

Because It Doesn't Cost You Anything

• Ultimately, wishing somebody a happy birthday costs you nothing except a small fraction of your time. If you are unsure whether or not you should wish somebody a happy birthday, consider that doing so is more likely to have a positive result than not.