35

I am 35 years old today. At this point, I don’t know whether to feel young or old. In my mid 30s, I still feel young at heart. At the same time, my body is often telling me otherwise. This birthday is perhaps a little extra special as I am a Dad now and birthdays will become a much bigger thing in our household going forward.

Today, I am feeling incredibly blessed and grateful. My life has been far from perfect, but I’ve lived a great life. I hit the birth jackpot and was born in San Francisco. My parents gave me many more opportunities in life than they had. I have a great and loving wife and amazing friends who I love and trust. Work is work, but I get to build a company with amazing coworkers who I respect, trust, and love working with.

I’ve been fortunate to travel to many places in the world. I’ve had great experiences. I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to enjoy my joys in life like food and golf. I hope I get many more years on this planet. And maybe most important of all, I have an amazing son that is healthy that I get to raise. Truth be told, I’ve lived a great 35 years on this planet and I do not take that for granted.

There’s a lot of shit to complain about in my life and the broader world right now. But again, I need to choose to remember that I live a great life and I need to be grateful for what I have.

In this 35th trip around the sun, I want to make sure to lean on gratitude and learn to complain less. Life is simply too good to be a curmudgeon and I hope to never turn into one, no matter how old I am.