~Pablo Neruda
This week seemed like a constant question: How old are you? Followed by of course, I am twenty-four.
This week also seemed like a constant reminder. Between teachers, students, and friends I was told and told again how young I am.
True, I am young. I even surprised several students with my age. But after receiving many cards from students at school and many versions of Happy Birthday in English and Spanish, I celebrated my birthday "Spanish style". And throughout the night, I shared some advice with some Spaniards. Some have taken this up to be"wisdom" but I just consider it a way of life considering I watched and learned this from my parents. My parents have taught and shown me that your age is only a number. Nothing more. What counts more is that if you truly feel young within yourself, then you are young. It all depends on how you look at and perceive yourself in the morning of every day.
If every morning you wake up thinking, "Dear Lord, please take away these wrinkles and this gray hair," that inner spirit that makes you feel young will be drowned by darker thoughts that will do nothing but age you further yet, physically and spiritually.
So yes, I accept that physically I am still very young. Twenty-four is not a number to complain about nor would I ever try to. And yes, I may not have the right to say, "Don't worry" about a situation like this considering I am not yet placed into that dilemma.
However, I do feel like I have the right to remind people to enjoy the day. Whether it is your birthday or not, be thankful for what you have. This year I give thanks to all family and friends who have shown me love from the very beginning and have accepted me for who I am. Because deep down when you think about it, numbers do not and should not matter to anyone. What is more at stake and more important is the child within you that yearns to play more and more as an adult figure. Keep that spirit alive and you will stay a child at heart forever.
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