Thursday, November 13, 2008

34 and counting.......

13.11.2008

Finally, I had a proper sleep last night. Now I am feeling fresh and more alive. What a way to start my 34th year in life. Yes, I am 34 today. A big number? Not really, just a number. Deep inside I feel much younger.

Despite my reluctance to celebrate my birthday for the past few years, today I have decided to cherish it by visiting my past, pondering on the bad, the good, the failure, the success, the gain and the loss.

I have come a long way. Not so long ago, seems like yesterday, I was a little boy in a small village from the other side of world, undernourished with a tummy full of worms, underprivileged whose parents struggling to keep 9 children together, running around without shoes/slippers/shirts, looking after cows, goats, buffalos, living in a house lighted with oil lamps, using water from a well to clean myself, collecting woods in the forest for my mum to cook our meal, dug a hole each time I needed to do the business to empty my bowel, was chased by wild boars on the way to school which was 30 mins walking in the dark early morning, was so scared of the ghosts on the way back from reciting Quran at night.

Here I am today, in front of a computer browsing through the internet, sitting on a leather chair with my mobile phone HTC touch pro beside me, have a wallet containing bank cards, credit card, in a large apartment I co-own containing all the luxurious items that I never dreamt 20 years ago, have a great job, a wonderful companion, supportive friends, and have the opportunity to travel to many countries. Every so often I had to pinch myself, is this real, how this could happen. 34 years, so much has happened during that time. I was sent away by my family to have my education for free, lost my 2 brothers, one was murdered, the other from an illness when he was an infant, lost my mother from a tragic accident, received awards for my academic achievements, the self destruction, the redemption, and many more and I am only 34. I hope I have grown up to be a better person, older and wiser.

“A man is not old as long as he is seeking something” – Joan Rostand
“Age ... is a matter of feeling, not of years” – George William Curtis
“Life is a long lesson in humility.” -James M. Barrie
“Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards.” - Soren Kierkegaard

4 comments:

Al-Razes said...

happy birthday.. syukur atas segala nikmat. Bagus kerana masih ingat asal usul kerana itulah kita sebenarnya...

jo ayee said...

my dear hairi..happy..happy..bday to u..tersebak bila baca entry ni..after all,syukur alhamdulillah..thing turned out great for u..

HelmiLassim said...

pembakar semangat ok...
tapi tak leh nak ikot 100%...
insyaAllah org nk smbg blaja stkt mane yg mampu...
after diploma nie...
org nak sambong ijazah pendidikan...
nak jadi cikgu katenyer...
cikgu akaun ok...

KeBiBebi said...

Hairi, a belated birthday wish from me. I'm maybe older by just a year from you...but our lives parallel in terms of all the ups and downs. Trust me, we're among the lucky ones to be presented with lots of life experience in such short span. Others may not have grown as wiser and may not see as thru different angles as we have, given the same years. That, my friend, distinguished us from being 'just ordinary'.