After turning 26 two weeks ago, I sighed with relief as I ‘officially’ bade goodbye to what they call the quarter life crisis – although I know it does not work that way. But well, turning a leaf marks the beginning not only of another year but a new phase in the so-called adulthood stage. Being at this point now is like sailing a boat amid the wideness of the ocean with almost zero nautical knowledge. It would help if a powerful demigod would come to help and rescue a whole village. (Sorry I love Moana to death).
But I digress.
This post, as the title connotes, is inspired by the popular novel-turned-TV series 13 Reasons Why, which (spoiler alert) tells the story of a teenage girl who explains the ’13 reasons why’ she killed herself through a set or recorded tapes sent to the people that caused them. But I haven’t watched the series yet.
Fret not. I’m not suicidal. In fact, I am writing this post with the exact opposite idea – list the 26 reasons why life is awesome.
- How better can you start than your morning coffee? It’s literally the first thing you look forward to every waking day. It awakens your body and soul, keeps you calm and invigorated. When there’s coffee, what can go wrong?
- And then you wake up to your weird, loud, disorganized family. Need there be more said?
- Every day, you face the world with a game face on. And you need to dress up like you need to slay the red carpet, or stride the catwalk, or simply walk the streets. Mama Tyra said, ‘Every hallway is a runway’.
- Put on your earphones, turn up the volume, and nod your head to the rhythm. You gotta be friends with Lady Gaga.
- Cats!
- And then when there’s time, draw. Find inspiration in things – the weirdest, smallest, and unlikeliest. There is inspiration everywhere, if only you open your eyes well enough…
- …like strolling on Instagram where the prettiest things are! It’s a virtual world of wonder and art and inspiration – an escape pretty much. Can be unreal and surreal. But who doesn’t want some fantasy?
- Things aren’t always rosy, but flowers can always make your day. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “The earth laughs in flowers.” They sure do; I can hear them.
- When anything goes wrong, Seafood! Oh stop.
- And some good old pasta, rice noodles, spaghetti, lasagna, carbs! I mean who doesn’t drool over pasta? Come one, pasta is love!
- As much as you love the colors of the trees.
- Peace.
- The sun is blazing in April, and you are #Kayumanggiproud
- And then you can always unleash your inner Thalassophile. When in doubt, go to the beach and get your much needed vitamin sea. Sometimes all you need is a salt, sun, sand, serenity.
- Travel as much as you can. Collect memories, not things.
- Who doesn’t love just staring at the stars and the Milky Way?
- And who doesn’t love to camp out, beside a bonfire on a summer night?
- And who doesn’t want the smell of earth after the rain? When all is fresh, when the thirst of everything is quenched.
- Nature knows how to amaze you, cleanse you, feed and nourish your soul.
- Poetry does the same, pretty much. It also immortalizes memories, feelings, thoughts, dreams.
- Naps. Sleep. Heaven is for real.
- The feel of the clean air when you’re on your way home, looking outside the bus window.
- And then your friends who you love to share your lamest stories with, just laugh until it’s the wee hours, hug and kiss.
- Share love to the world. Every stranger’s smile is a gift, receive it and say thanks through your own smile. Pass it forward.
- Faith.
- Oh, sunsets remind us that even endings can be beautiful.
And the list goes on. You can never run out of reasons why life is worth living. – it is!
I used to ponder profoundly on the essence of my existence, but now I just live each day as it passes. I no longer desire to unearth the nebulous purpose of life because as it unfolds, there grows a multitude of reasons why every breath you take is, in itself, precious.
*Photo: Google
Demigod in Disguise 