India - Birthday Blues

Today was my birthday. I got up, went to work, worked all day, came home, went to the gym, paid some bills, and then sat here thinking. It's somewhat strange to go through an entire birthday and not have any of the people you come face to face with wish you a happy birthday. I guess there's a first time for everything. I have a VIOP phone in my room though, so I was able to call many of my friends and family. That was good, because it was nice to hear them wish me a happy birthday.

I spent most of the day lost in thought. The training today was on Program Management, and since zero percent of my job deals with program management I paid that same percentage of my attention to the training. Instead, I read some comics on my computer and thought about this past year of life and the new year ahead. It's been a decent year. I managed to finish an MBA, which for me seems like no small feat. I also got my first "big break" of a job in the form of this BDM position with Wipro Technologies. I have many things to be grateful for and life is good.

So why am I so glum today?

I suppose it could be the "normalcy" of the day. I mean, the entire day just felt like any other, there was no special attachment to the day, no party, and no celebrating. Instead, there was work and much introspection. They say the "Unexamined life is not worth living," but maybe I should have picked a different day to do the examining.

I told my best friend that it was a happy birthday for me because I was still "alive and kicking," and to an extent this was (and is) the honest truth. I feel that every day I have on this Earth is another chance to prove that I deserve to be here. That opportunity is not one that I take lightly. The question: "Have I done any good in the world today?" comes to mind. I hope that we all can answer with a resounding yes.

Anyway, I'm getting older, and the older I get the more I realize that we are not just celebrating our age, we are celebrating life. That most precious and capricious of things, that sometimes eludes and sometimes overwhelms us. A Neurosurgeon that we spoke to today told us "Plan for tomorrow, but LIVE for today."

I couldn't agree more...