The Uncelebrated 40th Birthday

A WhatsApp message came in when the cell phone was starting to wear out with age, a congratulations on my sister's 40th birthday. At first, I was shocked, is it true? Hahaha... I laugh out loud when every year and on May 14th the youngest brother is the first to congratulate me and pray for my prosperity in the future. He is very caring and loves me as his older brother.

Celebrating birthdays is not a tradition in my life, even since school age. Never imagined celebrating special moments like most people celebrate. Maybe this is closely related to cultural factors and the role of both parents at that time with all the limitations we had.

What should I do to get money for the next day, buy school worksheets like other students in general and save for education? This has been my concern since then. So... There was never room to think about celebrating birthdays that my friends my age should celebrate.

Time continued to pass, I had graduated from basic middle school and high school and had even grown up, had a permanent job and got married. However, my view of birthdays remains the same, nothing special, in fact, I often forget the moment of my own birthday.

Times continue to change and culture shifts with the development of information technology. Even though it wasn't a wish, in the end, exactly 1 year after the birth of my first daughter (4 May 2017), there was a surprise birthday celebration at my in-laws' house, even though it was simple. The paradigm of moments like this is starting to get used to me even though it is not an important part of myself.

For me, my birthday is a reflection of my age starting to decrease compared to before, I will be faced with a series of complex problems, regarding responsibilities as a creature that is getting closer to death. What have I done to get the guarantee of heaven, will the worship I do be accepted as provision?

This reflection became a runway for me to continue to introspect myself, not only in my relationship with God as the creator of all creatures and nature but also with fellow social creatures who interact with me.

Exactly on May 14 2024, I was 40 years old. It turns out that I have started to age with physical changes occurring, my hair is starting to fall out and I am not as energetic as before, but I continue to be productive to be the best for me and my family. The essence is that I have to play a positive role in the future of my family.

If you look at my Population Identity, my age is 1 year older than my actual age, this is because it is a motivator for my cousin who is 2 years older than my birth year, to encourage him to actively study and take part in the learning process at school, I was enrolled in school with changed the year of birth, from 14 May 1984 to 14 May 1983. Finally, I was accepted into school as the youngest student at that time.

^{A Little Celebration of my Son's 3rd Birthday}

My current hope

As a father with 2 children, I do not have expectations beyond the reasonable, because in principle what I want is happiness, for me happiness cannot be bought with nuggets of gold and diamonds.

I continue to push myself to be the best, present as a husband, father and part of social creatures.

On the other hand, in the scope of blockchain-based social media such as Steemit, I have a long-term target so I continue to invest in Steem as part of my consistency in supporting the initiatives of the Steemit Team.

Am I Not Supportive of Birthday Celebrations?

The paradigm shift regarding birthday celebrations does not make this special moment an insignificant moment, I began to realize that the existence of birthdays is a reflection of being better than before.

With the current stable economic status, I take advantage of the special moment of the birth of my partner and two children as a medium for recreation, enjoying culinary tourism or nature tourism, these activities as gratitude for the blessings I am currently receiving by giving them unlimited happiness.

My wife once asked, "Why do I never celebrate my birthday? I even refuse to celebrate it!". I just smiled and gave an understanding of the background of my previous life without having time to think about anything other than changing my life status for the better.

Indonesia, May 15, 2024
@irawandedy