Birthday Road.

This is my birthday week. I was born on the last day of March. I sometimes wonder how I would have felt if I was born on April fool’s day. Though that’s just a random day as its origins remain a mystery. People just prank each other and then the day ends. As much as I find no meaning for the day, I guess it’s a good decompressor in this high-pressure life. I see it as a day set aside just for laughs. Today is the 1^st of April so go ahead and have some harmless fun. Well as for this article it’s still the real deal, not a hoax hehe.

I haven’t given much importance to my birthdays over the years. I tend to remember milestones in my life’s journey more than the age I was at then. For instance, my first major initiation of life was ta 26 and the second was at 40. I remember more what I went through than the age I was. That said I can now no longer be casual about birthdays. Mummy shark and our baby sharks are very particular on the birthdays in the family including Jesus’s birthday on 25^th December.

Over time I have grown to appreciate birthdays more and that has increased my celebration of life. Another trip around the sun is no mean feat. Corona has shown how fragile life is and for that reason, we are to live intentionally and maximise every moment. My second family is my band of five brothers. Two of these guys recently turned 50 and that makes one pause. Yaani you have been around for half a century. That should make you pull over, reflect and plan how you will live the next fifty years.

My boys and I have always celebrated milestone birthdays. When we turned 40 we took a short holiday just to celebrate. To still be together ten years later as we all approach 50 is a good reason to raise our glasses again. Genuine, practical and real friendship is rare and so we must toast to that. We are currently planning to celebrate Mike who just turned 50 last month. We now call him 50 Mike. How cool is that?

So what do I feel about turning another year yesterday? I’m still not sure. I need to be still to process that. There is a small wooden road sign I drive past in Tigoni on the road to Limuru Country club when I’m going to play golf. It caught my eye not too long ago. Someone who probably uses this road to go home has named it Birthday Road. We can assume birthdays are a big deal to them.

I now relate that to the road I have taken from my last birthday until today. And also what road will I take from now up to my next birthday. Maybe that birthday road could have twelve bumps each representing every month of the year. That would prompt me to slow down and review the past month. Maybe also notice the tree canopies above and flowers by the roadside. That way we enjoy the journey more instead of solely focusing on when we will reach the gate at the end of the road.

As we grow older we should live more intentionally and use birthdays as bookmarks to take stock of our progress. I’m now finding life is better travelled in a packed matatu than solo. Of course, the matatu should be roadworthy, meaning that whatever we are engaged in should be getting us closer to our calling. And secondly that our fellow travellers in the mat are a positive influence to us as we are to them.

So this year I choose to be a little more deliberate. I will take a solo retreat (of course in the wild somewhere looking for animals to photograph hehe) and try and pause long enough to hear better. By the way, I have always wondered why defining instructions come in mute yet the ones to derail us come with those campaign speakers, loud as hell. I guess the point is to grab one’s inner attention so that the effect lasts.

Apart from enjoying homemade cake from my clan (and silently hope they will buy me a new camera hehe) may be the gift to myself as I start a new year should be to reduce the external volume. Seek to travel down the birthday road with the radio off, tune my inner ears and eyes to be more alert to see and hear the clues that success leaves behind.

Oh, and on a personal point of pride which requires a loud bash, today is this blog’s birthday. We are also starting our sixth year. it is unbelievable that we have posted every Friday since March 31^st 2017. Even I am impressed at Lucas the writer so happy birthday writing guy. Keep typing. And thanks much folks for finding the time to pass by here weekly, monthly or whenever you do. And for sharing a story or two with your people. Truly appreciate it. Looking forward to the birthday road ahead together and to the stories that come up. Live long folks.