"Hey there birthday girl! Hope you have a fab day! And before you start freaking out about turning 30, remember there are some of us who would give anything to be 30 again!" Thanks Dondi, for these calming words!
Turning 30 is definitely no reason to panic! It's not like I'm turning 40 or so! But, joke aside, I do have to admit that the looming big 3 got me thinking... Luckily I wasn't able to do too much thinking about the physical and mental degradation which most friends promised me I'll face from here onwards.
My attempt to self-reflect and draw an 'inventory' of my life (I know, nothing says midlife crisis more than a life-inventory!) got pleasantly disturbed by a surprise party which the love of my life organized for me!
So there I was, surrounded by a potpourri of friends, a Halo-Halo of pyromaniacs, my sister and my friend from Germany, colleagues, and project partners. Between conquering our climbing wall, great conversations, good food, plenty of drinks and a lot of burned kerosene there was simply no chance to look back thoughtfully at my life.
Another great surprise was the gift my sister had pulled off for me! The huge birthday card she handed me was packed with personal wishes and greetings from more than 20 friends who couldn't make it to the Philippines to celebrate with me in person. In spirit, my friends from South Africa and the US celebrated with me. Their messages were right next to the congratulations from family members, friends from kindergarten, elementary and high school, my karate class buddy and AuPair friend!
Wow, for the first time, all these people from all different parts of the world, connected through their friendship with me, got the chance to meet in one birthday card! This card, I thought would be the starting point for my inventory list!
But, no chance yet! I still had to unpack all my gifts! Alright, I’ll just postpone the list! And, even on gift part, a concerted effort to get me something personal, something I'd really love and use, given that I spend most of my time in transit (either stuck in the bus to and from work in Manila or at airports traveling in the Philippines or internationally): a Kindle! Now I can carry all my books in one sexy and slim device, to kill time usefully.
If every big birthday turns out with such great surprises, I can't wait to turn 40! And, after I closed the door behind the last guest (at around 4 in the morning) I realized, no need to sit down and make a life inventory because it's all here:
I have a loving and caring partner, who managed to pull off this great surprise party,
a family which, ever since, supported all my crazy decisions in life (most of them taking me away from them),
a sister who, despite her limited English skills, managed to contact a great bunch of my international friends (tearing down language barriers), and
so many friends I met along the way who care enough to celebrate with me and to wish me all the best.
Looking at the human and emotional “assets” I've accumulated in the past years I believe my choices in life weren’t too bad after all. With so much backing it can only get better from here!
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