Another Decade Ends and a New One Is About to Begin

Thirty years ago, I remember sitting alone in my kyoshokuin jutaku (government housing apartment) getting ready to celebrate my 30th birthday. The teachers from my former workplace back in Los Angeles had sent me a video with everyone celebrating my 30th birthday in the library as they gathered for the teachers' weekly Lunch Bunch, a pot luck luncheon we all enjoyed participating in. My former colleagues also surprised me with my former kindergarteners singing "Happy Birthday" to me. I was so touched and cried buckets. I had only been in Japan a little over 3 months and no one really knew that it was my birthday with the exception of another Tottori ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) who was stationed in Yonago City about 2 hours away. (Shout out to ya, Richard on your birthday tomorrow!) Wasn't your 30th birthday supposed to be some monumental occassion? Well, I had no "Dirty 30" birthday party, no birthday cake and to be quite honest, I don't even remember what I did other than watch that video.

Fast forward 30 years later. I'm still here in Japan and getting ready to celebrate my 60th birthday. Many people say that birthdays are a lot more fun to celebrate when you're younger. I remember the surprise party my university roommates threw for me when I turned 19. I remember going out to dinner with friends on my birthday. In Japan, it became a tradition to celebrate with sushi and lots of karaoke. I wonder how my classmates who also turned 60 this year celebrated. I suppose if I were with my high school friends right now, we'd be reminiscing about the trials and tribulations we all went through. We'd share memories and "I wonder whatever happened to so and so" stories and laugh.

As I get ready to say good-bye to my 50's, I feel a lot of emotions, but don't really know how to process it all just yet. I did a Periscope broadcast the other day and as I spoke, I came to the conclusion that although people say age is just a number, is it truly JUST a number? We tend to associate different things with certain numbers and ages. We know that there are some ages that designate a time in one's life: adolescence, the teens, adulthood, being "legal", retirement, senior citizenship, etc. We may start to feel pressure during certain phases of our lives because of biological clocks, career/financial stability, partnerships, major purchases, marriage, to name a few. We may fall in love with someone who is considerably older or younger than us, but society may frown upon such relationships simply because of this number we call an age. We hear of or perhaps even know people personally who go through something known as a mid-life crisis because of the anxiety of being considered old or wanting to still live the way they did 10 or 20 years ago.

So will turning 60 change the way I'm going to live my life? Here's what I feel:

I've just spent the past 2 and a half months working my butt off to apply for a new position at my current workplace. Essentially the work would be exactly the same, but the terms of the contract would offer much more security and make every bit of commitment and dedication I do in my career worth it. After studying hard and going through a series of interviews, the results were successful. I have been given a new opportunity at 60! I go to work feeling motivated and excited because I am doing a job that I love. I try to surround myself with people who are positive and just as passionate about life as I am. And to those who aren't, I try to be someone who can inspire them or make them feel good about themselves. I know that I am not in the same shape or condition that I was 10 or 20 years ago, but I am fortunate to still be in good health. I see making healthy choices and taking steps to choose a healthier lifestyle as something fun and challenging and not as a chore or a burden or a penalty. I always try to keep my heart filled with love because hate, jealousy and envy will take its toll on one's well-being. I know it sounds corny, but keeping those pure feelings that you had as a child keeps that child alive in you. So even though I am turning 60, I feel that same excitement and happiness that I did when I turned 10.

I have lots more to reflect upon, but it's getting close to midnight and I've got to get to bed. I think what's filling me with happiness right now is thinking about what my parents were thinking 60 years ago as they awaited the arrival of their first child. My parents were young, in their early 20's, and I'm sure they were anxious and excited. I was born at 1 am so I'm sure by now, they were at the hospital. I know I was born surrounded by love and that gives me such an incredible feeling. I feel blessed, I feel loved and I feel super excited to begin my 60th year here on this planet. Thank you, year #59. Let's start this new blog as we begin a new decade.

xox