Sunday, May 22, 2011

17. Birthdays

As I am three minutes away from midnight, I am nurturing my gratitude for my birthday.

While that might sound immodest (blogging about your own birthday?!!?), consider this: how many people like revealing their true age after a certain point in their lives? Some people stop at 27, others remain 30 for a very longggg time. Some people do not even look forward to their birthdays because it is a harsh reminder that they are one year older, while one look at the greeting cards aisle can give you an idea of how aging is viewed in our society. So yeah, I am blogging about my birthday, about getting a year older, and while sometimes I have to heed looks of shock from people (usually in their early twenties) about my age, and put up with crude jokes about getting older, I have to admit - I enjoy getting older. Not physiologically per se, since sometimes I am reminded of the limitations of my aging heart and the cumulative effects of stress, however, emotionally, intellectually, and philosophically, I have grown just as much, so really, it's a give and take process, this getting older business.

While my body was probably more capable of tackling things in my early twenties, I can say without a second thought that I would much rather be in my early thirties than in my twenties. Why? 1. I never appreciated my young twenty-something body. 2. I dwelled on everything that was going wrong in my life. 3. I relished a sense of importance in catastrophizing, in besting everyone else by talking about how much worse my life circumstances were than others (which may or may not have been true, but that is irrelevant really, which my thirty-something wisdom has made me realize :)

At least in my thirties, I appreciate what I have (and make a conscientious effort to do so), and am more self-aware. To me, aging has almost become synonymous with a bottle of fine red wine that gets better with every year, and birthdays have become an opportunity to review my life and aspirations mid-way through the year, to renew my resolutions and to well, quietly reflect and be kind to myself, and be the best person I can be under the circumstances. While I might not be able to be the best person every day, I certainly feel motivated (and can be) a great person on my birthday :)

So here's looking at me, kid, carpe diem!

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