Leave the door open for randomness.

Inertia — 163

By Krists Luhaers

This week, my birthday ambushed me with a strange yet healthy dose of optimism for the future. We raised glasses for six sunrises and sunsets and enjoyed the time in the capital — friends, family, myself. Only a week or so prior, I was firmly set on not celebrating a thing.

But it made me realise I enjoy the randomness, the surprise birthday songs, and the unexpected change of plans. I’m not the type to ignore the turn of another year, and I don’t think any of us should be.

I lost that glow you tend to get when your day comes around. But I realised that no, this date will always be special to me — if any day will be. Life is short on this planet, so feel and enjoy it all.

Our modern lives tend to accelerate us all into fatigue, a blur of work, stress, ambitions — and here in the UK, lousy weather. We overthink and bypass the moments that should star on our mental marquees. Instead, we mutter joylessly, “It’s just another unremarkable day on the calendar. Or “Why honour getting older — getting closer to the undiscussed end?” Fear speaks.

Last Friday, my coworker S reflected on how we don’t have the same fun in society as she did in her 20s. I hadn’t thought about that before. “You don’t go raising hell and overloading your psyches every week anymore.” I replied, “It’s true; it’s too expensive, and the quality of amusement has aged badly. Instead, you find fun in pockets.”

The burdens of today pile high — soaring costs, mass layoffs, and the world’s misery beaming through our anaesthetising screens. It’s more vital than ever to excavate delight in life’s smaller places. It’s oddly efficient, yes, but it’s a reliable way to earn consistent splashes of happiness rather than lying in wait for the next holiday or big occasion to be happy for a night.

Four years of writing, alongside other inexpensive pursuits like reading, exercising, and wandering in nature, have studded many of my days with jewels of pleasure. And as these are part of the handful of things I have genuine control over, here is where my focus will lie.

Because you look at everything else — family, love, work — randomness will cameo with unavoidable improv, no matter how carefully you plan or tightly you keep your script. It’s best to accept it and dance with the unpredictable intruder, rolling with the punches and knowingly stepping into the surprises.

So, the most important lesson for this birthday: celebrate the aleatory. Unpredictability’s meadows and groves led me to better gratification and appreciation for the days that matter. Fighting the uncontrollable only ends in vexation.

Randomness can create opportunities we’d never imagined or planned for. As Polly once said, some of your happiest moments and biggest breakthroughs may occur by chance, amid a crisis, or in the face of a giant unknown. An open mind will allow you to recognise and capture the fortuitous moments that shape the landscape of your life.

At the end of the day, the wisest path may be to stop fighting the ungovernable, invest our energy in the regenerative habits we can control, and celebrate every moment that may pass — staying open, optimistic, and absorbing whatever unfolds during the good and bad.