The Shifting Tides of Aging

It is as if a tradition: my mom sitting in one corner with her traditional coffee set, Dad close to her enjoying her company, the little crowd of my younger siblings on one side, and fragmented groups of adults on the other—it’s a typical scene in the Bairu family. As you can imagine, we are quite a big group. The family you see with similar age ranges and sometimes confused about who is older and who’s not—we are that family.

My favorite time is a typical evening after dinner. Some of us, like me, had a natural tendency to dance to every song playing on TV, and some love making fun of our moves. Both my parents enjoy the peaceful war brewing—you get the picture.

The closeness with my siblings made it hard for me to understand the gap I had within. For example, I considered the firstborn my best friend and the last one my Bing-watch companion. There wasn’t much of a difference in how we blended. I had a pretty lovely upbringing.

The whole sail of my early 20s under my parents’ ship, as naturally expected, was of strong energy to do the most out of my time. My ability to make time for friends and work (I was told I hated being idle). There was a sense of freedom as if time was infinite—a little concern about different tides as my parents successfully navigated them.

Now that I have captained my ship, the tides mean different, sometimes, the strong waves of responsibility and expectation (usually bringing about my own family and life partner) are unbearably heavy. So far in this journey, I have managed well to cruise my journey of these topics, but they do leave a mark of hesitation - is this the right path?

The finite nature of our time, in addition to the demanding nature of our current way of living, leaves me wondering - when do we truly understand the wisdom of aging?

Here is to 35 years of roaming around the seas of life and many more blessed journeys for you and I.