Happy Birthday!

“No wise man ever wished to be younger.”
Living in Ireland, it only makes sense that I quote Jonathan Swift. As someone who always dreaded celebrating their birthday due to the fear of becoming older and having less time to live, I never understood it. How could someone not want to be younger? But now that I'm older, I totally get it! There's so much to growing up that I don't want to be younger. I would never trade the peace, the knowledge, the freedom, the life I live, and the person I have become for my younger self.

This year, with all that is happening in my home, it has even more meaning to it. On the one hand, it feels weird to acknowledge this date, let alone celebrate it, and yet, on the other hand, it feels so important to do so. There are too many who don't have this luxury, and when thinking about how fragile life is, I only come to appreciate it more.

So, it's true, with every birthday we get older, and some aspects of growing older suck (mostly physical aspects), but we gain much more with each year, which makes the less nice aspects very minor. We gain awareness, experience, and wisdom, but we also get beautiful moments on this beautiful planet with beautiful people. Even if sometimes we experience sad or frustrating moments, we are lucky to be here and to have the opportunity to live through them.

So I'm turning 35 today (: and I'm thankful to reach this milestone.