Week 17/25: Turning 26

Reflecting on Personal Growth and Change

Jul 14, 2024

Two cups. The number of chai cups I have every morning six days a week. Two and six, also my new official age.

Typically, I’ve been a very excited birthday celebrator. Since turning eighteen, each year I’ve spent my parents' hard-earned money on a party or on a table at some nightclub that was way above my pay grade. What could I do? I never understood how one could not celebrate being the center of attention once every year. From the long-personalized Facebook posts to the Snapchat/Instagram stories, I loved it all.

This year felt different somehow. I didn’t feel the need to have the attention. I didn’t want any gifts. I didn’t want a big party. I didn’t feel special on my special day. For the first time, I was content doing nothing, celebrating nothing, being nothing. Is this what getting old feels like?

Twenty-five was a big year for me. My life last year crashed like the 2008 stock market. It was as if God was forcing me to face situations I had been avoiding. But just how “time in the market is more important than timing the market”, I tried staying consistent and wouldn’t you know it, soon enough life began trending upward. In my mind, I believe bad things happen to nudge me towards my destined path of greatness. Quite bold right? Well, I believe it, and would much rather continue to, instead of accepting it as fate and falling into a victim mindset.

If there was one thing last year’s lavish birthday celebrations taught me, it was that I’d much rather prioritize and celebrate with close ones who I value most. So much of this is attributable to making decisions from a position of power. For the longest time, I treated friendships like currency. Keep them very many and you’ll be rich, but piss people off, and you’ll be left without any currency. So, I always made decisions from a position of weakness. But once I realized that compounding currency would have bigger payoffs than spending all my time collecting it, I felt the power dynamic change. Agh, classy Kanav gets the ick every time he thinks of massy Kanav.

“Are you excited about your big move to NY?” People ask. “Yes ~~and No,~~” I say. Yes, because I can’t wait to start this new chapter, and no because I’m consistently afraid of reverting back to my older self when life gets super busy. Only time will tell what happens, but one thing is for sure, you can find out if you tune in to read the next few editions.

Weekly Health Hack - Healthy or Low Calorie?

If you are researching what constitutes healthy eating, it's important to realize that healthy does not necessarily equate to low-calorie or weight loss. Many healthy foods, which have good nutritional value, may be highly caloric and even result in weight gain.

Conversely, low-calorie foods may not necessarily contain all the nutritional needs of a human. Peanut butter or avocado is considered beneficial but extremely high in calories. Similarly, protein bars are low in calories (high in protein) but use artificial sweeteners which could be considered unhealthy.