Count your blessings

The big 3-0 went past without a huge bang...it was as ordinary as can be...just like any other birthday. Since big parties are never my thing, it is no surprise that it was ordinary.

When friends asked "how was your birthday", I would reply dryly,"I just had dinner with my parents and family". My "happening" friends will say "oh that was nice" and I would wonder if they are trying to be polite. I gave the same reply to an ex-classmate and she said "oh that was very nice" and I stopped for a while. She had lost her mom for quite a while and had just recently lost her dad.

I knew then that when she said "nice", she meant it in all sincerity and ernesty. It was such a simple and everyday affair to have dinner with parents and family that perhaps I have taken it for granted afterall. Not to mention the many good friends who celebrated the big 3-0 with me.

I was looking at the pictures of the urban picnic I had with my buddies by the Suntec fountain and pictures of the other wonderful times we spent together. And I wonder why I look different in these pictures. I figured after some time that it must be genuine happiness, of being at ease and being brought back to a very child-like state. And I am grateful for these buddies.

My roomie Ivy had put this all across most perfectly and beautifully in my birthday card - "A cheerful soul reflects a grateful heart" - and that really is the essence of happiness, I think.