28 and counting…

It’s my birthday today and I’m 28 years young. I’m feeling 20 these days, and I think I look it too aside from the greys that I can’t seem to hide anymore …I recently shaved my head, and no more goatee for a while now ;)

Wow a lot has changed this year, and despite the many ups and downs, 27 was a great year for me and I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished. I feel like 27 was the year where I got out of my routine and out of my shell, and explored unchartered territory. It was year where I made so many great friends, and took risks…definitely a defining year for me and one that I’ll remember.

Geeta has been spoiling me rotten all week and she definitely made my birthday a special one. I missed not being around family today to celebrate and I’m looking forward to seeing them at Christmas after a class trip to China! Speaking of China, I just attended a class preparation seminar for our China MBA study trip. In that seminar we got a few mandarin lessons and it turns out that accents are accentuations are really important in the language. As a learning exercise, the class was taught how to say ‘da’ four different ways using the four mandarin accentuations...it was pretty funny hearing the class repeat ‘da’ over and over in different tones.

When I was born in 1980, President Ronal Reagan was elected into office that day as I’m told by my mother. Today, on my birthday President-Elect Obama is elected into office. I feel like I’m living through a historical moment…kind of like all those folks that lived through the first man on the moon landing, the JFK era, or the Vietnam War. I guess it isn’t entirely true (that I haven’t lived through historical moments); I mean I did live through the fall off the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, the dot com boom and bust, and 911….but somehow, Obama takes the cake. It almost feels as if the world took a deep breath today and expressed a sigh of relief….like everything is going to be ok :) Just wish the damn stock market felt that way today! It’s still paining me to look at my portfolio.

What were my key takeaways from year 27?

-Genius comes in times of adversity.
-Don’t give up hope when things look hopeless.
-A conservative person can become a conservative risk taker.
-Successes are nothing if you don’t have friends or family to share them with.
-Negativity is contagious but so is positivity.
-Don’t take all the good things you have for granted.
-Don’t let friendships slip away as a result of stubbornness.

I mention that these were my key takeaways, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve learned to master them :) I still have a long way to go on embracing many of these takeaways. Let’s face it: I hate adversity, I have downer days, I’m conservative in nature, I love family and friends but in doses, I love to bitch about things on occasion, I definitely take things for granted, and I can be one of the most stubborn asses you’ve ever met on most days….but hey... I’m working on it ;)

So what’s 28 going to be all about? I want it to be about successful new beginnings in a new city (Toronto), successful partnership with my wife, good friendships, keeping it good with family, making a difference, and having impact.

Thanks to everyone for you warm birthday wishes….means a lot to me.

Until next time….

Sacha