Another birthday...

This year, I accomplished something I'd planned to do for a long time: I cooked a meal for my mom. Good job, me.

I was thinking a couple of days ago about what to post for my birthday, so I went back and looked through my old posts. I was surprised to discover something: many friends I used to be very close with had long since deleted me from their friends lists...

Haha, living seems like the splashing water in a river, gathering and separating, becoming raindrops or waves, and eventually, we all reunite in the ocean.

Another year has passed, and I have to face a question that's hard to answer: Have I grown up this year? Have I continued to grow into a better version of myself? I used to be terrified of stopping my growth and change; I would rather die than stay the same. But now, I don't really want to treat growth as a pressure. Pretending to be excellent too much just leads to ignoring my true self.

Finally, I'll end with a passage I wrote a long time ago:

In the blink of an eye, I'm approaching thirty, the age of standing firm. If life is a book, these many years I've spent have served as the preface. Flipping through it casually, I can roughly tell what the rest will be about. Those who find it boring after reading the preface have already set it aside.

I used to be so pretentious in my writing.

Hello, 26, Hello, myself.