BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS: VAIN VANITY IN VAIN

 By Tijjani Muhammad Musa

 

Talking about birthdays, I came across one write-up titled NO MORE BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION (see it below) utterly rejecting it and I couldn't agree more. For I've since discovered it's nothing, but vain vanity in vain.

 

I see some even celebrating birthdays of their children, parents or persons, not just of those alive, but even of those that have died years ago and I wonder why? Why use time for such... I'm lost for words.

How can somebody be dead and gone and yet his birthday, not his benefits to mankind be wastefully celebrated. Some, with nothing of value in their lives except their ego, would even take offence that you've not wished them "Happy Birthday"

 

And why aren't people celebrating "Death Days". You know sit down in sorrow and regrets that someone they loved had once died on that date? Rather, what they do on such days named "Remembrance Day" is engage in another wasteful jamboree.

Anyway, I stopped entertaining it a long, long time ago, when the realization of its futility occurred to me. So, I don't want it done to me and I don't do it to others. It gladdens my heart to remember my so-called birthday was 2 or 3 days ago, after it has already gone by.

If it is so important to you to celebrate the day you were born and could go on a spendthrift and you are someone educated, but not appreciative of your intelligence, I would wish you well, but surely would give not a bother if it skips my mind.

Many loved ones think you don't love them no more, if you dare miss their birthday, send them cards, gifts, text messages, special calls or bomb your pockets to arrange something extra ordinary for the occasion, so much so that it can bring cracks in a relationship or even out rightly end it.

I even saw a new trend now where students would organize a party to celebrate their passage from one level to another just like one medical undergraduate studying medicine did, when he passed his exams from 100 level to 200. Can you imagine that? When has such a tough course become so cheap?

Medical students fa! Making and distributing almanac to that effect. Shouldn't he be planning how he should make it to Barau Dikko? That was the bother of such guys in ABU Zaria then. To the best of my thinking, it is not how well you start off that matters, but how well you end up.

 

Ask 100m race athletes or any other about pursuits of life. Stories of from grass to grace and from grace to grass abound as pointers for the truly wise. How can one indulge in celebrating mundane things in life at the neglect of more valuables, when death lurks to kill all joys at a terminal point.

And thereafter, what awaits one is so uncertain, many who couldn't handle the stress of thinking about the various possibilities have chosen to play the ostrich i.e. bury their heads in the sand. Come, do ostriches actually do that?

Anyway, like I said earlier engaging in mere wishing of happy birthdays, not to talk of spending money to celebrate it is indeed vain vanity in vain. There is a thousand and one better things someone can do with money.

Self development via getting better educated or contributing towards educating another with such wasted finances could go along way in making our society better. Many of us make noise on social media, but when it comes to putting their money where their mouth is, they instantly freeze.

May we be saved from our wastefulness of time, resources and intellect in celebrating birthday, amen.

What do you have to say about this?

(c)2016 Tijjani M. M.
All Rights Reserved