THE ESSENCE OF #BIRTHDAYS: THE NEED FOR SELF-REALIZATION
Being a commemorative piece written by #ogbenihimself

…And so, my growth witnessed some change in orientation and the general attitude towards life, such that a transformation was witnessed by myself. Now l that cherish more of a reflective birthday that can bring about a deeper thought on how to go about touching more lives than I can think of. This is more of the reason why I have resolved to get this piece written.

For me, today marks the beginning of another year, and it must be said that invariably the countdown had begun. With all gazes fixed at the celebrant, I am assured of a wider audience that is capable of spreading this ‘gospel’ at a go, albeit I am going to write without that kid glove that is expected of the day. Away from criticism and poetic gestures, it is just myself wishing to present my birthday wishes. Therefore, it gives me a great pleasure to write this piece as a commemoration of my birthday simply because, just like every new year, there is also a need to go about the birthday resolution, which should, from my perspective be brought about by chains of deep, critical and progressive thinking. I will not go against the culture of birthday festivities, but I think there is more explanation to the way a birthday should be celebrated than it meets the eye.
What am I driving at?
Like marketers in bigger corporations with a defined, well spelt out targets, human creatures are born with a specific purpose and mission. There are like a target or a mandate that must be met. The mission varies with individuals, but not without obstacles, which comes in form of a distraction. Without doubt, it takes some people a lot of time before they realize essentially what their mission is, whilst very unfortunately, it takes some other individuals their lifetime before they understand what the essence of their birth implies. The implication is that, a situation could arise whereby the lack of realization of someone’s mission might leads others, or multitude astray, because like a chain, we are all connected imaginarily, one way or the other.
Therefore, I think celebration of birthdays should leave the stage of being irregular to being purposeful, from the stage of vagueness to vast understanding, from the stage of ignorance to self-realization. That explains why amongst other things individuals are expected to grow wiser with respect to increase in age. Perhaps, it is expected that an increase in age should bring about a lot of reasoning cum reflections that will bring about an advancement not just in the area of intellectual abilities but an all-round maturity in one’s self.
If births are linked to the purpose of an existence, then I believe that birthdays should be thought of as a ‘period’ in which one is expected to reflect on his purpose or mission on earth. At that, I am compelled to say after deeper reflections, which this day has afforded me, that out of our very many individual missions, one mission is common to every mankind, and that is the ability to impact on each other’s life, positively. From a biblical perspective, of the very many missions that Jesus Christ achieved or fulfilled here on earth, one is peculiar. That mission is the one of the very many missions that is common to every human creature. It must be said that Jesus Christ came to this world to make an impact on all of us, and it is expected that we continue in that trend. Therefore, we can say deductively, that birthdays should better be observed as a day, wherein we are meant to reflect on our mission, especially on the numbers of life we have impacted positively, and revisiting whilst putting finishing touches to the plans to impact on more lives.
Therefore, what other things can I ask for on this occasion of my birthday than atemporal provisions that will increase my consciousness towards charity, so as to reach out to more lives and put more smiles on people’s faces.
On this note, I want to wish myself, my kid brother who happens to be a birthday mate – ORIMOLOYE, Nifemi, Otubelu IJ, ‘chief kongi’ and other July ‘missionists’ (or explorers) a happy birthday celebration. To well-wishers, I want to thank you for celebrating the significance of the day with me.
-ORIMOLOYE, Ifeoluwa
On the 10th day of July, 2015
cc: ishmike, lalasticlala