Feeling so grateful and blessed for the time I had celebrating my birthday. The fact this date will forever be etched in our consciousness as also the day that so many innocent people lost their lives 18 years ago is never lost on me, and it reminds me each time of the sanctity of life. The interface between life and death is so soft, yet evokes such a stark contrast in our emotions.
There are those who think that celebrating birthdays is frivolous, I’ve even heard someone say it’s just like any other day. I believe that this life we are given is an incredible privilege and honour. And being a doctor may have something to do with my belief. There are so many people who fight and struggle for their lives each day because of chronic disease or because they live in a conflict zone, and then there are those who face desperately harrowing journeys to be able to conceive and give birth to a new life. Being alive is the greatest privilege of all, and if having a birthday makes us appreciate this and think about the kind of lives we want to lead, then wouldn’t it be great if we treated every day like a birthday.