30 Years Later

To be honest, I didn’t think I’d be around this long. Not being morbid, I just didn’t picture life past age 25. For some reason I thought I was a long way off from being here, but here I am. Live and in living color. I’ve learned a lot about life in the few decades and if there’s something to be said it’s that 30 years ago, the 80s were closing up shop. Now that I’ve cleared my 20s, I guess I can reflect on some of the most interesting years of my life as I prepare for the next chapter in life. But first, I should say, I’m still a proud member of Generation Y––the prestigious Millennials. I am still very fond of 80s movies, the old Nickelodeon shows, old school Saturday morning cartoons, Disney channel original movies circa 1994-2006, Super Mario Kart, and of course Tomb Raider.

30 years on this earth has shown me that people are just as predictable as ever––they will fight long before they pray, they will seek to bring light to injustice without ever doing anything about it and they will always, I repeat always fight for the wrong thing. We currently live in an age where we have access to the wealth of the world’s knowledge at the tip of our fingers and if we’re not careful, we can tear down everything we’ve sought to build in 140 characters or less. But that’s a story for another day, today I want to thank my friends and family for the birthday wishes. As per usual, I want to tell you about the stuff I’ve learned this year because trust me, it’s been a wild one.

This year I learned about a lot about life, love, and friendship and through those lessons, I’m confident I’ve become a stronger man. This year I learned that life is fleeting. I learned that if you want something you have to pursue it zealously. I learned that when you make your mind up about something you have to make sure that you’re comfortable with the decision. I’m a huge believer in trusting my gut and so far, my gut hasn’t lead me astray.

Next, I learned that you can never truly love another person until you fully and completely love God and yourself. I tried and failed to give my heart to other people but this year and in the process, I learned that love is more than my ability to give love, but it has a lot to do with my capacity to show love. Love, I learned, is just as tangible as anything we can hold in our hands.

Finally, I learned about friendship this year. This past year I’ve experienced some of the greatest, most life changing friendships I could have ever imagined, and it has made my life exponentially better. Friends, I’ve come to realize, are the backbone to who we are. They challenge us and make us better, they push us to be great and they are in your corner when no one else is. I have some of the best friends and they truly are some of the greatest people I’ve ever met.

So today, on my birthday of all days, I charge you to live better, love stronger and be better friends tomorrow than you were today.

Stay Victorious My Friends!