Another year older…

Image source: www.best-birthdaycakes.com

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” 

                                                          ~Mark Twain

At certain times, don’t you just wish that time stood still? It may be while gazing at a rosy sunset, taking a stroll down a desolate beach, watching the starry night sky with a loved one, glimpsing a beautiful rainbow in the monsoon, admiring the gorgeous colors of autumn or standing atop a mountain with the breeze in your hair, looking at the wispy clouds below. These are the moments that take your breath away. 

Unfortunately for me right now, there is one more that decidedly makes the list - celebrating a birthday (the occasion that is literally taking away the number of years that I draw breath!). As sad as that sounds, it is regrettably true. After you reach a certain stage in your life, you may start dreading birthdays. Not that I ever had dreams of immortality or anything but with so much to see and experience in one lifetime, time just seems to be whizzing by at breakneck pace. 

I remember when I was a child, I would look forward to a birthday with breathless excitement. I would fervently wait for it, marking the calendar as each day passed by (which seemed like snail’s pace at the time) and begin to plan all the interesting and fun things I wanted to do on that day.  It would always be all about the new dress, the cake, celebration with friends, the presents and one full day of being the center of everyone’s attention. Growing older was actually a pleasant prospect at the time. Oh! to be able to relive that phase of life again.... wishful thinking eh?

I recently touched a milestone age (alright I turned 30). I was a bit dejected as the impending day approached. To add insult to injury, on that very day, I happened to find my first strand of grey while combing my hair which sent me into a spiral. I hastily disabled the birthday notification on all my social media accounts and secretly hoped that my family and friends would suffer mass amnesia. Tough luck there I must say. Most of my friends and family, gave me some grief with the typical ageing/grandma jokes, some well-meaning nosey parkers reminded me that it was "high time" to have kids while others were kinder and comforted me by reiterating "age is just a number" (sure, but it is a big number) and "30 is the new 20" (which sounds suspiciously like something a 40-year old may say). It reminded me of an episode on the popular sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S which revolved round the subject of birthdays and growing older - humorous, awkward and oddly relatable. 

But as the day unfolded, my mood lifted, and I felt much better about being where I was. It made me contemplate about my life so far and I realized that I had indeed accomplished a lot of what I had envisioned. A life of love, happiness, depth, contentment, security, adventure, discovery, spontaneity and companionship - what I had once only hoped for. A little self-reflection goes a long way I must say! It dawned on me that as we grow older and wiser, we learn to appreciate so many things we took for granted when we didn’t know any better. We understand a little bit better what we want from life and more importantly, we get the bigger picture of what truly matters.

Although I’m still not crazy about birthdays and don't think I ever will be, I can honestly say that I have made peace with the passage of time. Growing older is an undeniable reality which will happen (whether you like it or not) and I have realized that it is something that has to be embraced rather than feared. I know that as I am growing older, so is everyone around me. Knowing that we are all in this together somehow makes it mildly comforting. I have so much more to see, learn and experience and I hopefully still have many years ahead of me. It is up to me to make the most of my life. 

I’ve always disliked the tradition of blowing out birthday candles, as if extinguishing the light of each passing year. It feels oddly morbid to me. From now on, what I’m going to do is to make a promise to myself on how I am going to enrich my life as I light a candle for every year that I welcome as an older and wiser individual. I'm looking forward to the next chapter of my life with enthusiasm and hope. 

As I sign off, I’d like to share with you one of my favourite quotes on growing older

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away".

                                                           ~Hilary Cooper

Cheers,

Megha