I turn 8 tomorrow

Once in third grade we were given a composition assignment that asked us to write about our parents. That in itself was not much of a challenge since at that age my entire world revolved around them. But it did pose as a threat to my parents’ sanity as my normal count of 100 questions per day quadrupled in a matter of minutes to get the information I needed to complete the said assignment.
During my quest to learn everything there is to know about my beloved Papa and Ami, I discovered that Ami is 33 yrs old. She is my mother and so she is older than me, but I remember being in awe of this fact - the fact that my mother was sooo old. Compared to my single digit existence, the number seemed phenomenal and I wondered how I would feel when I got that old. The prospect was scary. I was abnormally aware if not fully mature in my thoughts and had an almost inane capacity to understand the complexity, certainty and seriousness of several life issues – aging and death included. I really did think 33 was that much older!
Time flew by and tomorrow after many years of good and very few of not so good fortune, I turn 33. I know perspectives change and I am no longer eight, but the number does not sound scary or old anymore, and in some ways it really seems great. Of course what choice do I have and of course now 33 has to seem young and hip, but truthfully I have realized over the years that you are as old as you feel.
When I really think about that little girl looking at her mother with awe, I realize how mature and grown-up she was for her age. How burdened she used to feel because thoughts beyond her years used to plague her and how she felt truly incapable of being a normal third grader, carefree and full of life. Going by what I have learned about being as old as you feel, I was actually 55 in the third grade. In fact, most of my childhood was actually near retirement age.

Somewhere during the course of these 33 years of existence I secretly grew to my actual permanent and spiritual age and birthdays became mere reason for celebration and the numerical age, just a number. I now realize that age truly translates into spiritual beauty, health and the presence of love and peace in your life. So no matter what my age, I won’t feel old as long as I have all these things.

Maybe this post will make no sense to some people, while others will know exactly what I mean. In any case, I am more a free spirit now, than I ever was as an eight year old. Happy 8th birthday to me !!