It's My Birthday Again!

What better time to re-start my blog than on my birthday??? Hello, again :)

I have always loved celebrating my birthdays. When we were smaller (and younger), my sister and I often had parties together. She invited her guests, and I invited mine. Even when we were financially strapped, my parents always made it a point to make our birthdays extra special. I remember giving out little "agogo" plastic bags filled with candies on my birthday because that was all we could afford. I didn't mind that my other classmates usually had grand parties in class. Nor was I ever embarrassed or bullied for having no money or new toys those years. I always just loved the idea that my birthday meant I was the "star" of the day at home. 

Growing up as the middle child, I shunned attention and was content to live in my own little world. But on that one special day of the year, I embraced the love and attention showered by my family and relatives on me. Mama always made sure to get us new clothes, or go shopping for a new pair of pants on special occasions. Birthdays are one of those "new outfit" days. We would wear our new attires at our birthday celebrations, then later for Sunday masses.

Now all grown-up (and hopefully, more mature-thinking), I can appreciate birthdays more than what it used to mean for me. It isn't about growing older now. It is about a new beginning. It means a fresh new start when I can reset the button for new goals or alternative solutions. I find it a blessing that I have July for a birth month because if after six months, my New Year's Resolutions haven't yet materialized, I can make little tweaks and adjustments by then.

This year, I have nothing to ask for except the continued good health for my loved ones. There is that proverbial saying that "health is wealth." I only now recognize its truth. As I go forward in my life, I encounter death in all its different forms. I realize my mortality and of those that are around me. I am humbled by this daily fact, and yet I am in awe at the idea that it has spared me to this very day. My end hasn't yet come because my God hasn't willed it yet. He still has something in store for me. And I bet it'll be a grand surprise.

Happy birthday to me. For the 39th time.