“So, how does it feel on your birthday?”

I didn’t know how to respond when someone asked me this last week on my birthday. To be honest, I felt older, that’s all. What are birthdays supposed to feel like, anyway?

Past a certain point, you realise you’re not getting any younger. Each birthday brings with it further responsibilities and greater levels of #adulting. Not to be morbid, but I once had a secondary school teacher who put it this way – with each birthday, you move one step closer to the grave. Nice.

Then there’s the hype – I cannot stand the hype of my birthday. People fuss over you more than usual, asking what you would like for everything! I understand everyone means well, but after what seems like a barrage of birthday interrogations, sometimes it gets tempting to say I don’t want anything at all, just to stop the questions.

With each birthday, you move one step closer to the grave.

As for birthday cake-cutting and birthday song-singing, I’m not sure when I grew averse to them – in recent years, they have become part of the hype I cannot stand. I love cake, but surely one need not be obligated to partake in these birthday customs, long-held as they may be, right?

And don’t get me started on those Facebook friends you forgot you had who reappear that one time in a year …

But don’t get me wrong – I appreciate the love and thought that goes into each birthday gathering. So before I make myself sound more cynical than I already am, I am thankful for my birthday, though I hesitate to display it openly.

Perhaps it’s because I’m at an age where one starts counting blessings more closely. Or I’ve heard more stories of friends who’ve lost their loved ones in the last couple of years.

Regardless, these make me keenly aware of the need to treasure those around me.

This year, I’m thankful for family and friends alike.

It brings to mind a conversation I had with a friend during the Lunar New Year period this year – she had asked me how I would be spending reunion dinner. I replied that as usual, I would be spending it at my grandma’s place with the extended family for steamboat, a family tradition that’s taken place for as long as I can remember.

I think my jaw dropped a little when she said, “Wow, you mean you have grandparents?” As I tried to mask my surprise and confusion, she continued, “I’ve never met any of my grandparents, all of them passed away before I was born.”

Since then, it has brought me renewed appreciation to have grandparents who’ve been able to watch me grow up, and that I still have my grandma today.

This year, I’m thankful for health.

They say being twenty-something is the prime time of one’s life – my fellow twenty-somethings have used this season of life to do volunteer work, travel abroad with friends, and take part in mission trips before they are tied down by having spouses and children to care for, among other things.

It is a season where one gets numerous opportunities to meet diverse groups of people through various life experiences. I am thankful that I, too, have had opportunities to do these, but realise these are impossible without good health – a blessing I cannot take for granted.

The caution not to take good health for granted hits home because several months ago, a friend my age had had a cancer scare. It turned out negative in the end, to her relief. Yet, it was sufficient reminder that illness can strike at any age, and being in good health is not always a given.

This year, I’m thankful to be alive.

The awareness of mortality isn’t limited to old age – on the contrary, I’ve been made more aware of my own mortality on hearing of the passing of friends’ friends, who are fellow young adults – the young victim of the fatal car accident in Johor Bahru last month was a friend of a cell group member.

As my cell group member informed us of his friend’s subsequent passing and shared with us his prayer requests for his friend’s family, it was a stark reminder of the fragility of life – that I must be thankful for each new day of life and the time I have with those I love.

This year, I’m thankful for God’s gifts.

As I spent this birthday with the Thir.st team, I found myself thankful for the opportunities to testify of God’s work in my life through writing – both within and without of Thir.st. It has been such a blessing and joy, especially because I am less than qualified.

Most friends I know who write for their day jobs have some form of media or communications background – unlike them, I am not a trained writer and all I have learnt about writing has been by exposure. I started as a contributing writer by chance about a year and a half ago, and am thankful for the opportunities I’ve had since then.

As I move into another year of life, my heart echoes these words in Keith and Kristyn Getty’s modern hymn:

My heart is filled with thankfulness
To him who reigns above,
Whose wisdom is my perfect peace,
Whose ev’ry thought is love.
For ev’ry day I have on earth
Is given by the King;
So I will give my life, my all,
To love and follow him.

For this reason alone, there will always be something to celebrate.