The Significance of Birthdays

+++This post is written by *UNCLE CHE+++

After reading Ate Lainy’s post about her birthday, I felt as though mine should be the very next day so that I can celebrate with friends, families and colleagues and have some fun too. Ha ha ha.

Like Ate Lainy, I was born on a 29 too, and so was Noela, but what is so peculiar about mine is that the 29th I am referring to belongs to February. Many friends ask me whether I do celebrate my birthday only on leap years. They ask if I always wait for 4 years to pass by so that I see another 29th February before I celebrate. Some do advise me to pickup 28th February or even 1st March, since first March is the day after 29th February and could virtually mean the same thing. 1st march? You got to be kidding. That’s completely a different month!

What is the significance of my birthday to me? Can I celebrate it on any day I feel like? As I Googled the web about the significance of a birthday, the most striking thing I found, obviously, was the celebration that usually takes place on one’s birthday. Searching further for why there should be a celebration, I thought that it all started right back, even before the birth of Christ. Primitive pagan cultures believed that evil spirits often visited people on their birthdays. To keep someone safe on his/her birthday, therefore, he/she was surrounded by well-wishers who sang and danced almost the entire day. The singing and dancing gradually evolved to a full celebration filled with eating, drinking, playing of friendly games, lighting of candles and making wishes, etc.

Coming back to my initial question, what will be my answer if someone asked me for the significance of my birthday? These are the things that will run across my mind to help me put the answer together:

GRATEFULNESS TO THE MOST HIGH
My birthday reminds me that God has seen me through a year and allowed me be a part of the next year. Isn’t that great? I don’t want to think of death as something very bad, no Christian should, but being human, we really don’t want to leave too soon. We want our family and friends’ company.

ANOTHER STEP UP THE MATURITY LADDER
Being one year older, on that day, I think of myself as a more mature person. Maturity comes with many trials and tribulations, one of them being responsible both for self and for others.

DEEP DOWN MEMORY LANE
Wow! One year already? As I stand amazed at how fast time flies, I try to reminisce on the past to visualize my failures and successes. Most people say the past as yesterday and we always should let go. That’s true! No one can live in the past, but it is important to always look back in order to build better roads and bridges into the future.

A PLAN MUST BE LAID
Tomorrows bread shall come tomorrow, they say, but I strongly believe we should make a plan on how to fetch for tomorrow’s bread, how to use it, and how to preserve some for another tomorrow.

SPREAD THE WORD
With all the above in mind, there is one thing that must be done. You can’t keep it all to yourself. Letting those around you know is very important. So too is letting them be part of the fun. That is where the celebrations come in.

Happy birthday to all of you celebrating yours today. Making the best of wishes, for you, on your behalf

*Uncle Che is my Cameroonian blogpal who also co-authors this blog apart from Lainy’s Musings’ Malaysian co-author, Windy. This post was previously published after I had my birthday in 2008. However, I lost the original post when this blog got hacked and everything got screwed up. I found this post at Google Reader and deemed it best to republish.

L E A H

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