It's that time of the year again

I have never ever imagined what it would feel like when I arrive at this day. However, I do feel that I have grown at least a bit since the last year. The funny thing with growing up and getting older is you appreciate what you have today and at the same time you wanted to go back to your high school years in some ways too. It takes a lot of years to morph into the person you are today and you wondered what it would be like if you are this version of yourself 10 years ago.

Humans keep changing, and at the same time, human nature is the same. There are parts where we are essentially still the same person 10-20 years ago, but there are parts of ourselves we keep tweaking and keep 'current'. Information learnt from daily interactions; from people; from movies; from media; from social circles; societal customs and etiquette; all of this contributed to the changing line of thoughts which directly influence how we behave, how we respond.

As for me, I am the same person 10 years ago, yet I am a different person from a year ago. I wanted to be same naive and idealistic person yet at the time I was more awkward and scared about the world then. I am more confident and as ease with my current self yet I lost some of the youthful ignorance I had years ago. Family relations have grown stronger though, friends are more or less the same bunch, with changing level of friendships now. Good thing about being older is you are more comfortable in your own skin but more selective in your view of the world, that's maybe the bad thing about being older as well. No wonder people always say we need 'fresh' perspective of things. Fresh no more, are we?

Rants aside, I am grateful for living this long and having the family and friends that I have. I hope everyone keeps a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Om mani padme hum.