When I was a kid, I used to think that birthdays are EPIC and significant. That feeling of excitement died in me awhile back. Friends around me were fortunate to enjoy the companionship of their peers because their birthdays fall on any other regular day. Mine, however, occurs during the school holidays.. and I never really had a chance to partake such an experience.
Over the years, the boy who had feelings of excitement and joy in anticipation of his birthday saw nothing in that day anymore. Year after year, his expectations let him down. He'd expect to have something similar to what his friends had for their birthdays, but nothing ever happened. Soon, he'd decided not to expect anything anymore. It was simply too depressing.
Rather than coveting this "joy" others have, he would join in the excitement of others' birthday and disregard his own concerns. However, each time when a friend's birthday was celebrated, he would be reminded of what he never had. The boy couldn't take it any longer and as such, he sought a solution to remove such feelings. He would start to forget the significance of his own birthday.
A few years have passed since then, and his birthday had little meaning to him. Every year, on the 26th of November, he would regard the day like any other day of the year, with the exception of a cake after dinner to acknowledge the anniversary of his entrance to this world. And that was it.
This came to an abrupt halt a few years ago. A few of the boy's friends pleasantly surprised him by giving him a cute little gift. It was more than a month after his actual birthday and it was the first week of school. He was confused, but he generated a natural response. "Thank you", he said. Whilst he said that, deep in him, those old feelings started to surface once again. And at the corner of his face, one could see the faint smile he held at that moment.
Since then, the boy's perception on things have changed. He is no longer disheartened by such things and he accepts things the way they are. Whether he would receive that little piece of joy every now and then or not, he would still hold his head high.
This year, a group of silly, immature, funny, annoying, smart and nice people took me out for my birthday.
We started off eating lunch at some asian place, got soaked in the rain, crashed at a buffalo's place, watched some shows there and went home.
Okay, it's definitely not as eventful as any other day out, however, it made my day. It may not have meant much to those friends in M'sia from a few years ago and the ones in Melbourne now, but I really appreciate them for making my birthday something meaningful to me.
So to you guys out there, thank you :)
