Birthdays are always exciting, aren’t they? At least they are for me as it makes me grateful for having a good life. But, turning a year old on your birthday also means having to face the countless two-cents and questions (regarding your life, marriage, kids, career to everything) thrown at you by the society.

And as I turn a year older today, I am reminded of many such two-cents and questions thrown at me over the period of time on “Living my life according to my age.” And why do I receive this? you may think. Maybe because I love exploring and learning new things and I am usually engaged in some or other activities like trekking, running, volunteering, learning new skills, developing a new hobby or attending workshops and that keeps me busy.

We all receive these pieces of advice almost every day of our life, don’t we? And that is because everything in our society revolves around certain set rules that are time and age bound. The moment we are born, we are handed a “This is how you live life” rulebook by the society that tells us how to behave, at what age to do and not to do certain things, how to talk, what to talk and the list goes on and on. This rulebook takes over our lives and even before we know, we have already started living our life according to the book. Start school at the age of 3, finish school at 16, at 21 graduate, at 23 Masters, at 25 get a job and get married, at 28 have kids and the cycle continues. And in between all of these, we are constantly reminded to act according to our age.

But, who decides at what age one should do what? Aren’t we supposed to decide it ourself? Only because we are climbing the age ladder shouldn’t be the reason for asking us to stop doing certain things. Trust me, age is just a number my friend, and living our life shouldn’t depend on it. There are teens that are doing incredible jobs and are as serious as their grandparents, and then there are grandparents exploring new experiences in life and are as fun as their grandkids. Somebody wants to be a CEO at the age of 16 or somebody wants to travel the world alone at the age of 70, it’s up to them, age has no role to play, the only thing that is important is the desire to do it. One shouldn’t slow down because age is catching up, in fact, one should live each and every moment because age is catching up. Frankly, if you ask me, I don’t think there is ever going to be the right time or the right age to do what you want to do. If you want to learn swimming at the age of 60 be it so or if you want to start a new hobby at 40 be it so.

Live a dream, be a storyteller of your own life and leave behind the race of doing things according to your age. I left this race many years back, and I am glad I did it. And now instead of getting worried about getting old, I celebrate it with the same enthusiasm of that a child by exploring new experiences on my birthday. Six years back, I started this by traveling to a new place and doing a new activity on my birthday. So, on my birthdays in the past, I have scuba-dived, bungee jumped, paraglided, explored caving, trekked and did much more. Not that I have done greater things in life by doing these things. In fact, there is still so much to see, learn and do. But exploring these things is just my way of celebrating getting old.

And as I bring in my birthday today, curiosity to know more, the urge to learn new things, the willingness to try new experiences, the desire to meet people that are inspirational, passionate only gets stronger. And, I still refuse to slow down to follow the age-bound rules that dictate our lives. Two-cents should be taken seriously only when it makes sense and is good for us, not otherwise. Next time somebody gives you a sermon on behaving according to your age, tell them, “Life is being an Ageless Explorer.” So, go LIVE life not according to your age, but according to what you LOVE.