The Gift Of Life

We westerners tend to look at other cultures and think - weird. They've got all these bizarre rituals, they're not very advanced now are they? We're so much more modernised and down to earth; we are so much more rational. Well, here's an odd western taken-for-granted-one for you: birthdays. Year after year, we celebrate the day of our birth. We rejoice at the idea of blowing one more candle out on the cake our mum baked with love and care, and we can't wait to open the presents we've been waiting for all year long. Then we become too cool to show any glimmer of excitement whatsoever and all the presents we get are booooring. Why does mum give me knitted sweaters I'll never wear anyways? And then we regain some kind of taste for birthdays, just because it's an excuse to party away - we just don't remember what we did for it. Strangely enough, the next stage of this peculiar ritual is to suddenly keep our birthday a low-key thing and whisper our age in a hush - getting old isn't something that should be celebrated, really. Who wants to know our real age when we've laboured at hiding those wrinkles with Yves-Rocher's cosmetics for so long? However, and this just might be the crème de la crème of this ritual, if we are 'lucky' enough to reach the "amazingly old" age-bracket, then it's time to celebrate our 100+ years of age, shout it out loud and clear! We are weird. No doubt about it. We can't even make our minds up as to whether celebrating birthdays is a happy or sad thing; it changes from one decade to another. Is there no room for consistency and/or rationality?

Well, today it's my sister's birthday - for reals, it's no fishy joke. And in spite of the aforementioned complications when it comes to celebrating birthdays, I happen to love other people's birthdays.

Just because it's a chance to celebrate the gift of their life.
Just because it's a chance to share how much you appreciate them.
Just because it's a chance to show them a glimpse of how much they mean to you.
Just because it's a chance to surprise them and make them feel special.
Just because it's a chance to thank them for who they've been to you so far.
Just because it's a chance to remember how blessed you are that they're part of your life.
Just because it's a chance to acknowledge how good God is.

"...things that aren't funny are funny with you, so I'm better when you are around. Sister I love you more now than I ever did." S. Bettens


My ears are currently seduced by: Sarah Bettens - Scream