Birthday Thoughts

A year went by so quickly. One great benefit on keeping a blog - I went back and read my 2005 birthday thoughts with just a click of a button! Last year's thought summed up into one short sentence: Relationships are the true essence of happiness in life. A year later, that statement still means a lot to me. My friends are the fabric of my life. They connect moments and experiences through out the years that define my existence. I'm always thankful for knowing and keeping in contact with them, near and far.

Recently, I'm a little sadden by the fact that, a very dear friend of mine, Will, is relocating to Minneapolis. He is a great inspiration to me and his mild manner clams me down. We both sing in the Heartland Men's Chorus, and I still remember vividly the day we met on rehearsal in the summer of 1998. I guess people come and go in our lives. Just like me packing up and came to the United States 15 years ago, leaving behind my dearest group of friends from high school. The distance didn't keep us from being close to each other, and all of us are constantly making our best efforts to travel to see each other. This year, it's their turn to come visit, and I'm very excited to play host! Knowing that true friends can never be separated by distance, it gives me hope that the friendship between WIll and I is only mildly challenged by about 6 hours of distance.

It always amazes me to think how people cross path and meet each other amongst the sea of individuals in this world. Everyone we know in our lives, is through a chain reaction of and events or people, one person leading to the other. Some people stick around, and some people, you meet for a few hours next to you on a plain ride, and never again cross path. Either you choose to belief that this random path crossing is by design or it is just mere coincidences, we cannot deny that all these cross points effect the doors that lead us to many possibilities in life, just like the Butterfly Effect. This coming year will be an eventful one for me. My parents will be visiting in about a month, and together with my brother, we're going on an Alaskan cruise; followed by the visit of my best friends, Josh and Derrick, during Thanksgiving; and the biggest event ahead - taking the big step of sharing a home with Eric, a new one that we're building soon. Even thought, it is both exciting and a little daunting at times to go down this path that has been brought to me through many past possibilities, I choose to sit back and enjoy the adrenaline along the way. Isn't this what we call the taste of life, anyways?