Older (and the jury's still out on 'wiser')

I have always loved my birthdays. I think its because I've faced some 'health-drama' in my life... but even before that. It might be because I've always looked forward to being older, to have gone 'round the sun once more. I also like the by-products of being older: I understand myself better, I think I understand others more and I appreciate the people that I love and that love me back more.

Since turning 27 I have realized just how important friends and family are. I have amazing friends that love me, care about me and make me feel like I am not alone in this world. I think this is the year that I finally understood what it is like to be alone and how lucky I am to have so many friends and family around me. I have a great family that always makes me laugh and it is because of them that I can say that I truly like what and who I am.

I still don't know how I feel about being 28. Being 25 was fun, 26 felt very grown-up and 27 turned into a year that showed me that I was reaping the benefists of my past in my efforts in school, my work and life wise.

And while I'm still scared of the future, have insecurities, and fights, and problems, and 'issues' like everyone else, today I kind of feel like its more than OK to have them. So my conclusion is that turning 28 is just like turning 18 but with a little extra bump -and some gray hairs.

'Passport watch' or 'you're always allowed to travel home'

I just finished packing for New York. I'm excited and have been on 'travel mode' for a few days now. This includes constant list-making/checking and the urge to run errands all day.

Travel mode also includes passport watch. Usually, I don't worry that much. One of the advantages of being a double national is that I have two passports... so if I lose one, the other nationality is right there, little booklet in hand and waiting for me. This time, because I'm traveling to the US, I really need my American passport to be nice and keep still. This was making me extra-antsy but then I remembered: you are always allowed to travel home if you lose your passport.

So I guess if the passport is MIA I can always travel 'home' (even though I haven't been to the US since I was eleven!)

Sometimes, life boils down to a game of checkers

I think I was about five years old when my uncle Roberto taught me how to play checkers... and not very long after that, I got good at it. It didn't take that much for almost every adult in my family to lose a game to me (and most of the times, it wasn't intentional!).

Once, my uncle came for a visit and played with me. I won a few times and started to get cocky... and lost miserably. He told me that I lost not because I wasn't prepared or because my technique was not good. I lost because I had too much confidence and hence lost sight of the little slip-ups and I was making and missed opportunities from being oblivious to my opponents mistakes as well.

Throughout my life I've noticed that cockiness will do that to me every time. If you are over-confident in your abilities then you will loose sight of your goal and probably not attain it. This happened with work this week. I thought I was too good for what I was assigned to do and here I am, five days later and still working on the draft.

So I remembered my uncle Roberto and what he said. I told my friend Danny about it and all he had to say is that 'Sometimes, life boils down to a game of checkers'. And he's right, it does.