Happy Birthday To Me!!! Some Thoughts I Had On The Morning Of My 35th Birthday…

Yippee-dee doo daa!!! Your favorite Sinhala blogger turns 35 today! And I’ve been told that I don’t look a day over 50… :)

Let me tell you about a little “Birthday” tradition I started a few years ago. Who knows? Maybe you might start to do it too…

Exactly 5 years ago on the eve of my 30th birthday around 11.30 in the night I remember sitting on my couch in Monaco, by myself, having just returned from a dinner. I knew that at sharp midnight, my parents would call me from Sri Lanka (despite the fact that it was 4.30 a.m. for them – so sweet, right?).

So with time to kill, I don’t know why but I opened up a Word document and just started making a list of all the things that I was grateful for, something that I don’t believe I had ever done before. And it had a real profound effect on me. I still remember that the first bullet point was “I’m thankful for having lived up until now and for having experienced everything I have”… (number 2 on the list probably may have been something to do with our awesome Sri Lankan cricket team :))

So since then, I’ve been updating this list every year. In a way, it’s also a great way to see the evolution of your life too. Going through the previous year’s list can expose you to a cocktail of emotions. For example…

You’re HAPPY to see that most of those things on your list are still there and that they don’t even need to be edited;

You’re THRILLED to see that you keep adding more lines to your list every year with more and more new things you’re thankful for; and

You’re momentarily SAD whenever you need to delete some things that are no longer part of your life (like my six-pack abs… just kidding, I’ve never in my life had abs. Instead I’ve had a one-pack).

Now, I’m not planning on sharing this list with you, trust me, it’ll be way too boring (I mean, how many times can you read “I am thankful for my million dollar smile and my oozing charisma” and not cringe, right? ;-)

No, instead, this morning I felt like taking some credit for the pleasant feelings I have today because let’s face it, I did make certain key (and dare I say “bold”) decisions along the way that have led to this moment. So I wanted to list them below, mostly for my own understanding, but you’re more than welcome to read it too, especially since you’re also mentioned in it somewhere :)

• The decision to move back to Sri Lanka (despite the fairytale life I was having in Europe): This has given me the opportunity to wake up every morning, come downstairs, and be greeted by my lovely parents whom I love dearly. I’ve got a mother who gives me the sweetest smile when I say “good morning” and a father who sings one line from a silly little Sinhala song “ma∙gḗ pu∙thu∙tȧ mal” (which translates to “flowers for my son”). Oh but don’t be fooled, it’s done less out of love and more out of knowing that I’m not a morning person and that it bugs the hell out of me…
• The decision to be emotionally vulnerable when it comes to both new and existing relationships (even though it scares the living daylights out of me!): I’m not just talking about romantic relationships but all kinds here including with my family and friends. The courage needed to open oneself up to another person is immense and the act of exposing oneself like that is absolutely terrifying! However, I’ve come to believe that this is what really enriches any relationship. You’re essentially telling the other person “I trust you to be able to handle, appreciate, and love the ‘real’ me”. And this gamble paid off because this has also brought me an additional source of happiness today ;-))
• The decision to say enough is enough when it comes to my yo-yoing weight: I hit rock bottom (or should I say “fat bottom”) around  9 months ago. Being unable to fasten the top 2 buttons on my jeans while taking a long 26 hour flight would do that to you, haha! So I started eating right and working out religiously. And guess what? This has so far made my waist shrink by a good 14 cm (or 5.5 inches) and my weight reduce by 13.5 kilos (or 30 pounds)! Still got some way to go but I am wayyyy better than yesterday.
• The decision to persist with my dear, darling, and adorable Lazy But Smart Sinhala Blog: Even when things became difficult, even when I felt stuck, even when self-doubt crept in and that annoying inner-voice sneered “What the hell do you know about teaching Sinhala anyway, you fraud”, I still kept at it. And it’s been totally worth it! The connections I’ve made with all of you has forever carved a special place in my heart. In a month or so I’ll be launching some new paid products that I plan to sell on my blog too. So, exciting times ahead for this little blog of mine!
• And oh yeah, finally, there’s my brother in Melbourne who’s more like my best friend: (I didn’t know how to link him to a “decision” as such but throwing it in since I need to be on his good side when his career hits it big and he becomes filthy rich).

I honestly don’t know what made me write all this in a blog post. I guess it’s just that I woke up today feeling like a very fortunate 35 year old man and I suppose I felt like sharing these emotions with my dear LBSS Tribe who has become a significant component of my life today. I’ve not been much of a religious man but these are those days where I would gladly use the word “blessed”.

(That’s great Dilshan, and happy birthday too, but do you think we give a ‘mee∙yaa’s pi∙ti pas∙sȧ’ about your birthday? When are we going to learn some Sinhala?)

Fair enough, I did promise you a birthday post, and yep, it’s another much-requested grammar post. Click HERE for that post.

Enjoy folks and once again, in case it wasn’t clear before, thanks for being an important part of my birthday! :)