September is fast approaching and I am hit with the sudden realization that I am turning a year old, again. I use to look forward to my birthday. I remember how I couldn't wait to turn 13 and become a teenager. 13 means more movies to watch since I am no longer restricted with the PG movies. I anticipated my 21st birthday and officially become an adult. But for the past few years, I seem to 'dread' my birthday. They say age is just a number, but why does it matter so much? As I experience my own Return of Saturn, here are a few insights on getting older (hopefully a little wiser):
1. You long for the 'good old days' - I never did understand what those 'good old days' the elderly used to refer to. Was it a magical place I get to visit when I reach a certain age? Then I got old and I found myself wishing for the 'good old days.' What is it exactly? For me, those were the days when kids played outside, getting dirty after school and not stuck in front of a monitor chatting to an 'avatar'. It was the time when dancing in the rain was the norm instead of avoiding it for fear of acid rain. The good old days was the time when a movie ticket was P18 and I could watch a movie every week. Oh how I miss those days!
2. Metabolism is no longer your friend - As you get older, exercise becomes even more important. Suddenly, every single bite of pizza or cake will haunt you for the rest of the year if you don't jump on the treadmill or run that extra mile.
3. Bills are now mailed to you, not your parents - When I was young, 'bill' was a name of a person, not an envelope that arrives at your doorstep. The older you get, the more bills you have to deal with: electricity, water, phone, credit cards, DSL, rent, insurance, pension, the list goes on. I remember a scene in Shopaholic when Becky threw an unopened envelope from her bank in a cement mixer hoping that it will all go away. Not the most "adult" thing to do but I'm sure we've all been tempted to do it at one point in our lives.
4. Wave Back Wednesdays is one reason you love the middle of the week - Not just Wave Back but any station that plays 'old' music. I love the new artists that came out in this millenium (Paramore, Sara Bareilles or Kings of Leon etc) but I have to admit, I'm a 90's baby through and through. I remember Justin Timberlake as a curly blond lad from N Sync. Before Wyclef Jean decided to run for president in Haiti, he was a member of Fugees with Lauryn Hill and cousin Pras. Green Day first broke into the music scene with Dookie. Boy bands, British and American, not Korean, ruled the scene. Mariah still had her natural curly hair and of course, Nirvana ruled the world. *Sigh, I miss 90's music.
5. Glasses (you can't live with them, you can't live without them) - I use to dream of wearing glasses. Back when I still had 20/20 vision, I thought it was so cool to wear glasses. I was in elementary then and I remember some of my classmates wearing fake glasses. I wanted one but my mom didn't think it was the smartest idea. Yeah right, what was I thinking?! Now, I can't stand five minutes in front of the computer without getting a headache. I want my 20/20 vision back.
6. You catch yourself saying the exact same 'sermons' your parents told you - I promised myself I would never, ever, EVER say those lines that my mom use to tell me. But then your patience runs out and you suddenly realized that you just repeated the exact same sermon you've heard from your mom a million times. What happened?!
7. People who met you for the first time refer to you as Ate / Kuya ________ - I hate this when it happens. You get introduced to someone for the first time and right off the bat, they start calling you Ate _______. I appreciate the fact that they added that polite term. But it just gets to you sometimes.
8. One word: FUTURE - One thing I love when I was younger, I never think about the future. Okay, maybe I do think about it a little, like what job I would have or what places I would visit. But I never thought about it seriously. I was too consumed with my friends and my favorite artists to worry about the future. Heck, I didn't even worry what college to go to back then. But as you get older, the future consumes you. What are your long term career plans? Stay here in the Philippines or move abroad? Do you have a retirement plan?
