RomantiCurious

I’ve never truly celebrated my birthday on my own. There was always a family member or a friend who made the celebration possible. Ever since I started living alone, I usually spend my birthday at home; either ordering something I’m craving for, or something new that I just want to try out, or I will just cook it.

This year, me and my friends decided to actually go out for a simple celebration the day before my birthday. We had the usual order of pasta and pizza and then drinks afterwards. My companions ordered their ‘happy hour’ cocktails while I went for a mocktail. Of course, we choose our recent favorite, Single Origin for this special occasion.

We have always ordered just fries and dips with our drinks so this time, we decided to try out their food menu. I guess the plates for the pasta were quite big and deep because we thought the serving portion was too small for one person. However, it turns out it’s good for sharing for 2 persons. Since we both ordered one each; we ended up being too full to even finish the pizza.

Of course, after the meal, it was time for our ‘happy hour’ drinks. I had to make do with a mocktail since me and liquor don’t go too well. They have 3 mocktails on the menu and I have tried 2 of them. I didn’t try the one with mint because I don’t want to feel like I’m drinking toothpaste. Perhaps, I will try it some time just to check out the validity of that assumption. My favorite is the Scarlet Tea because it’s not too sweet with just the right acidity from the lemon. Also, one serving of it can last me all night already.

Maybe because I’ve grown older, now I appreciate small gatherings like this instead of big parties. I never looked forward to my birthday before. I have always been, and still am, more excited for the Christmas season. I like it because everyone is celebrating, not just me. Family reunions are also a tradition during this season. I am also one of those people who find it fun thinking of gifts for my family and friends.

The celebration is also a way for us to express our feeling of gratitude for leveling up another year in our life journey. Yes, we have grown older physically, which usually has a negative connotation. However, we have hopefully, also grown in wisdom and experience. We are now more mature in terms of managing our own actions and reactions and regulating our emotions. With this said, I think that age is more a state of being, whatever number it may be.

Our age reflects many things about us:

• The state of our emotions during certain situations and how we handle them
• Our mindset and understanding about certain things and circumstances
• Our health both physically and mentally, as well as financially
• Our lived experiences that we have in common with other people both younger and older than us
• And many more aspects of ourselves that contribute to our overall state and character.

Birthdays should signify leveling up in life – not just in age and experience, but also in our goals and dreams. It means your opportunities should have also leveled up just as your knowledge and talents have. Which also means that your challenges may also be leveled up a notch. However, your confidence in your own capabilities should have leveled up too, so these challenges shouldn’t feel insurmountable anymore. They are just temporary obstacles along the way to your goal.

A celebration is also a way to share our lived experiences – our challenges and the lessons we learned; our frustrations and hopes and dreams for the future. It was a time to de-stress and recharge; to reminisce the past and be more motivated to face the future and keep moving forward.

We could not stay too late like we did in our younger days. But we are more in tuned with our body’s needs now and so we heeded the call to go home and rest. As we were waiting for a ride home, we couldn’t help but notice the moon peeking through the clear night sky. I take it as a sign from the Universe that we have been blessed anew so we can continue moving forward in whatever endeavor we may be engaged in.