This is the Day

"This is the day, that the Lord has made.
I will rejoice and be glad in it"

I've never thought much of my own birthday until recent years. Perhaps it's due to my family culture or my personality/character (or the lack of it), in the past, my birthdays just does not seem like any special event to me. The fact that I was playing Lan games with my friends during my 21st birthday (and they didn't even knew it was my birthday) showed how much I cared.

Having said that, I do recall the times where it did made me feel something. Those were the years where I had some greetings more than usual and felt that even when I do not care, there were people who does. And that's what made the difference to me. I guess personally, birthdays do not mean anything if you are the only one who cares about it.

Strictly speaking, there is no way you can be 100% sure about your date of birth. Sure, your parents have told you and it is written on your IC and all over your personal documents, but, do you really see yourself coming alive on that day? Do you really recall that it is the day when you take your first breath in this world? Or do you happen to have stolen a glance at the calendar hung in the operating theatre when the doctor is spanking your bottom? I think you get my point. None of us know for sure. And so, this so-called very important day of our life is in fact a day that someone, in this case your parents, wants to remember as the day you first came to this world. Before I start to sound like a conspiracy-theory writer, I'm by no means suggesting that the whole world is lying to you about your date of birth. What I meant was, birthdays are actually significant (to me at least) because someone else cares to make it so. Franky speaking, if I live alone on a stranded island, any day can be my birthday for all I care. Then again, I speak for myself.

Therefore, coming to the main gist of my rambling. This year's birthday becomes very significant to me because I realized I have friends who remembers. My girlfriend made sure that I don't overwork and that I spend the day celebrating with her. My ex-cell member reminded me right after mid-night that it's my birthday. Old friends who never contacted for quite some time sent me messages. My worship pastor "sang" me a birthday song in a SMS. Every now and then I was reminded that today is a special day. And to top it up, I always feel that I'm one of the few who are much blessed and very fortunate to have a close friend who shares the same birthday as me. It gives me a chance to focus on someone else other than myself on this "selfish" day.

Strange as it sounds, birthdays seemed a little more meaningful to me when it is not just all about myself. And again, maybe it's just me.

P.S. Thanks to all my dear friends who wished me happy birthdays today. Thanks Darling Shumin for making sure that I don't overwork on my birthday. =)