A Very Special Day

Today is my birthday. The mariachi and the Mañanitas (Mexican equivalent to Happy Birthday) are for me. There will be a cake but we'll spare the candles because we want to actually eat the cake. 803 candles would totally ruin it. The bright side of being eight hundred and three is that you all look SO very young to me. Yes, you too, Ninja friend. I am The Oldest in the blogsphere by far. Hahaha...

Ahem, back to the bright side of being so old, I can look back at my life, not to get sad about the tough moments, or regret what I couldn't achieve, or berate myself about my past HUGE mistakes. I look back and I realize how strong I've been and how much I've improved. I have faced terrible storms, very dark nights and dreadful enemies and I'm still here today, alive; smiling and striving to be better each day. I strive to let go of the useless burdens all thinking beings carry along our lives. It's on my 803 birthday that I decide to open my claws and let the past rest in peace.

The past made me the dragon I am today. If I don't like who I am, then it is not the past that will change me, so looking backwards is pointless. It's all the decisions I make from now on that will make me a better individual. These are some of the lessons I've learned in 803 years. You may find them useful.

* Living with your eyes on the past is like walking backwards. Your chances to trip are trice as much as if you look where you are going. Besides you'll notice all the big opportunities until they've past you.

* You cannot change the world. You can change YOUR world only by changing yourself. Don't expect people to change for you.

* No one holds the absolute truth. Keep your mind open and listen with the intent to understand, not with the intent to reply or convince. Ask yourself this question. "What is more important to me, being right or being happy?" Often, people that only cares to prove themselves right is the most narrow minded, and the loneliest.

* Staying down over-thinking about the reason why you fell is wasted time. Just get up and keep moving forwards. If it hurts too much, breath and keep moving forwards. If you want to cry, cry but keep moving forwards. If you need to rest, rest and immediately after, keep moving forwards. The world is not stopping because you do.

*Keeping the voice down and steady during an argument (even if you're raging because you're being shouted at) decreases the chance -and duration- of a fight in an 80%.

I'll share some other lessons in later posts. Now I want to share something else with you. Dwarves organized a raid to celebrate my birthday. Since only the Ninja Captain remembered he wanted to join me in such dragon games, Tassin met with him for the necessary preparations. It's only natural. If you're tagging along in a dragon raid, you have to look like a dragon. (Unless you are dwarf size, you have a thick beard and you know the Riverdance drill, which Alex did not.)

Rookie Raider

Don't you think Alex makes a good Night Fury? Now we can have some real dragon fun together! And for all of you who don't have scaly costumes, I leave you lots of Dragon Hugs.