I remember as a kid always wanting to be older. My best friend was a year older than me and it seemed like I was always a year too young to do whatever it was that we wanted to do. Then, the following year, when I was finally old enough, doing that thing didn’t seem to matter anymore. There was always some other new thing that I was a year too young to do. Today, at my age, that isn’t quite the case anymore. Birthdays are still a very big deal for me, as much as when I was a kid, but for different reasons now. Managing to not die for an entire year is an incredible accomplishment given the endless list of things that could go wrong every second of every day. So much luck involved. How we evolve as we age isn’t really about luck though. It’s on us. It’s about our willingness to do the work. I’m not talking about finding the right creams to keep our skin tight and the right exercises to keep our bodies limp. I’m talking about introspection, reflection and soul-searching, the real work that cultivates internal growth. Everlasting and timeless. I’m talking about making peace with our past, forgiveness, healing, waking up and becoming more conscious. Celebrating my birthday last Wednesday, I pondered. My 52nd year here on this earth certainly wasn’t perfect. A second bout of Pericarditis in November kept me down for months. But in terms of transformation, the last year has been huge. I’m still very much and will always be a work in progress. But I can honestly say that the foundation of inner peace and well being that I am sitting on today is definitely more comfortable than it was last year. And that is the real reason why birthdays should be celebrated.
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