Sodium turns 37

Every birthday is well spent reflecting. Reflecting on where you are, how you feel and what do you want to do differently over the next one year that aligns well with your longer term aspirations. It's easier said than done. I spent the day gardening today and didn't reflect much more than some winter sunlight.

But a line in my wife's card that accompanied my birthday cake note jolted me - "This is the oldest you have been and the youngest you will ever be again." It's true yet so easily forgotten. It made me come back to the milestone reflection at the end of my busy day.

I am an imperfect man. I am blessed (touch wood). People, in general, have been kind to me. Luck has favoured me as much as it hasn't. 

I feel full of gratitude for what I have. My role in my family and my place in the socio-economic fabric gives me a degree of influence on those around me. And because of that I also feel a certain responsibility. My temperament, words, and actions matter more and more for those around me. Emotionally, I almost have to slow myself down, just so that I weigh everything I convey even subtly. Suddenly, the realisation that I am an adult is acute. Not just an adult who's eligible to vote. But an adult who can raise a man and make him a good human being. An adult who can be a good husband. An adult who can be an elder of the family. An adult who can lead people. These are all the things I want to be and, in the long term, I hope I will be.

So next one year is a year of that emotional maturity. It's a year of practicing gratitude, kindness, forgiveness, empathy and resilience. Of being a dad my son can always be proud of.

And on that note, it's a year of spending time with a fast growing baby, who'll never be 1.5 year old again, while trying to be a caring son, a good husband and a responsible sibling. It can feel too much but with some values and principles to drive the thinking, it's not impossible.

It's also a year of continuing to learn but with more stepping back; less wasteful distraction from digital devices, more reading and writing, about Macroeconomics and Sociology, both of which build more common sense; perhaps picking up this blog again.

Life is a journey and, as I begin a new year on this journey, I remind myself of these timeless lines from Robert Frost,

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep