#24 : Thoughts On Turning A Year Older

They say...just like fine wine, it tastes better with age

As the dust settles and I am officially a year older and inching closer to the big 4 O, I can't help but to nod in agreement.

Back when I was growing up in the 80's in the backwaters of Penang, life was a lot simpler. I could play hide and seek with my neighbours by the roadside, play skipping rope strung together using rubber bands or play paper, scissors stone until we were worn out and tired. Then we would dig deep into our pockets and walked all the way to the end of the road to a tiny grocery store to reward ourselves with all kinds of junk foods, tidbits and ice creams, before walking back laughing and poking fun at each other.

The world was our oyster and time was what we had...

More than three decades later, I looked out of the bedroom window of my mom's apartment in Penang and stared at the puffy clouds above the sky and reflected just how far I have come from those humble beginnings.

It dawned on me that many things in my life which I thought were important, actually didn't really matter at all...

I realised...

• You need to know who you are, where you are going and what you want for your life. Else, someone else will dictate it for you. And guessed what do they have for you? Nothing

• You learned to be more patient, kind and empathetic

• You realised who are your Hi-Bye friends and who are your real friends

• You realised acquiring memories is more important than acquiring material wealth

• You realised once you lost your health, you can never gain it back

• You learned some battles are just not worth fighting for

• You learned to exercise wisdom before you act or speak

• You learned to hold your judgments, criticisms and cynicism

• You learned to embrace and adapt to change

• You learned to exercise patience and tolerance

• You learned to be colour blind and accept and love others, just the way they are

• You learned forgiveness is more than just saying "I am sorry". It is a reminder for you that it's time to let go of the past and move on

• You learned to take a step back to reflect and pace yourself in the hurried world

• You realised being happy is a choice and you alone are responsible for your own happiness. No else can make you happy, but you

• You learned the most peaceful place on earth, is when you rest at the feet of God

• You realised that true joy and happiness actually resides from deep within you

• You realised you need to be good stewards of your own money, because no one else is going to do it for you

• You realised it is OK to make mistakes as long as you learn from it and never repeat the same mistakes again

• You realised failure is not the end of the world. It is the failure to get up from the failure, that will spell the beginning of the end

• You realised that death is real and can knock on your door at any time. So do what you need to do today, say what you want to say because tomorrow may never come

• You realised there is no such thing as perfection, because you are a work in progress

• You stopped being so hard on yourself and learned to love yourself for who you are

• You learned to say "No" and mean it

• You realised growth is not an option, but a must

• You learned to stop pleasing others or bend yourself backwards and forward for others

• You realised there are no coincidences in life. Everything happens for a reason

• You realised life is short. So live every day as if it was your last, because one day it will be...

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KarinzDailyGrind is reflecting on the years gone by and what are the precious lessons she has learned over the years. When she is not looking into the mirror and counting her grey hairs, she likes to sip her cuppa of coffee at her favourite coffee shop on weekends with a good book and read as the world passed by.

If you resonate with her posts, do Upvote | Follow | Comment | Resteem| DM her on Discord. She promised to chew, not bite in the Year of the Earth Dog