I spent some time this August thinking and writing about the lessons I learned by the time I turned 32. I wanted to post it on the blog on my birthday. But they were mostly depressing or serious life lessons – truth be told, I haven’t really learned how to have fun.
Sure I have fun, but for me, Excel is fun. And reading and working out. It used to be going out too, but I am seldom willing to trade my 22:00 bed time for drinking and loud music.
Although this is an important lesson: it’s important to be yourself and accept what you like, while remaining open to the possibility of doing things differently once in a while – two days ago I traded my bed time for two documentaries (Fahrenheit 9/11 and Farhenheit 11/9 by Michael Moore; there are no regrets.
Fortunately, we’ve decided back in June or July, when it has heavily raining, that the weather will probably be great in September as it always is [why not? was there anything different about this year weather-wise?] and we should go to the seaside, as we did in the last four years except for 2020.
So we went. The weather was not conducive to sun or sea bathing, therefore we did lots and lots of walking. Or we sat on the beach fully clothed and watched the waves. I absolutely loved it. I am in love with the sea and it reminds me so much of when we were children and went there with the family. It’s easy for me to go to Constanța and to have a lovely time.
We stayed for thee nights. At first, we walked in the evenings’ as we worked during the day. In the first night we had Lebanese food for dinner which turned into lunch for the next day, as there were enough leftovers. The dinner in the second night consisted of a takeaway sandwich from a fastfood place and peaches.
We kind of took the day off from work on my birthday when we made a long walk on the beach, from Neptun to Mangalia. It was lovely to walk on so many beaches, especially because there were some places I’ve never seen before. And there was coffee [frappe] too.
We then had pizza for dinner, followed by drinks and a piece of apple pie and another long walk through the city. We found a great bookstore and got some new books. The boyfriend got a huge discount on his, which was a nice gift for him. I got a book on biology because it’s time to remember or learn more things on the topic – I am reading about the Spanish Flu [The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History, by John. M. Barry, as a result of a book recommendation seen in Ryan Holiday’s newsletter] and this book starts with describing medicine at the end of XIX century and the beginning of the XX-th and it interests me to expend my horizon.
During the next morning, I worked a little and then went out for a quick trip to the beach to hang out with the waves, as I enjoy just sitting there and watching the sea. Then we ate some Turkish food at the Öz Demir restaurant, which is delicious – they bring the orders right away, with limited waiting time and it’s very close to the train station. Afterwards, we headed to the train station and then back to the capital.
I was less reflexive during my birthday this year; I focused more on the present and how I experienced the seaside. It kind of feels that I am less excited about my birthday and more grateful for life – not that things can’t be improved, but it’s something soothing in accepting and enjoying what you live right now. If there is a lesson I learned thus far I guess is this one. To enjoy life right now and right here.
Make today count!
