I have always been fond of the number 24. It is divisible by so many numbers, with 3 being the most important (basketball related). I would always request it for my jersey number. If you add up the numbers of my year of birth, 1986, what do you get? 24. The highest consecutive number of 3's I have ever made while practicing? 24. If you multiply each individual digit of my birthday, 4-24-1986, what do you get? 13,824. Which is actually 24 cubed. So, to be simple, you could actually just write my birthday as 24-24-24. If I had 3 pies, I would invariably cut them each into 8 pieces, resulting in....24 pieces. Coincidence? No. The number 24 is practically perfect. It is orderly, predictable, reliable.
Today it is the 24th. This day will consist of 24 hours. It marks my 24th birthday.
A long time ago, I was under the impression that I would have accomplished a lot by this age, this magnificent milestone of 24. I was supposed to be in my rookie season in the NBA. I was supposed to be married, and have my own house. I was supposed to have an overwhelmingly large circle of friends, all of whom absolutely adored me. With my signing bonus on my contract with the Sacramento Kings (realistically the only team I could play for), I would have started establishing myself as a great philanthropist, with donations to cancer research, special education programs, and contributions to my small (but important) liberal arts college. I was supposed to have picked up an instrument, and kicked my stage fright in favor of a boisterous personality that only had room for confidence. I was supposed to have flowing hair, like a blazing flame that fuels the inception of great ideas within my perfectly molded cranium. And, I was supposed to have a pet ferret. Or, a cocker spaniel at the least.
In all ways, then, I guess that I have failed spectacularly. And, this day is less of a milestone, and more of a sullen occasion.
But, I am not sulking. All the things I was supposed to have established by now, well, they just didn't play out. And, now that I am 24, I think I am fine with it. But, I think I should start on a new list of things I am supposed to be/do by age...30 (2+4=6, so 6 years down the road should work). Here goes:
1) Shed 30lbs. to get back to my high school weight of 135.
2) Have a pet plant, which requires minimum care.
3) Convince people I am bald by choice.
4) Be able to do a mean robot dance.
5) Effortlessly shoot 3-pointers from 35 feet out.
6) Have a Mini-Cooper, and a Ducati.
7) Be able to do a Tomahawk dunk, which would have force substantial enough to bring even Bill Walton to his feet, proclaiming, "Throw it down, big man. Throw it down."
8) Write a self-help book, probably titled "6 Instant Ways to Slowly Make Huge Changes in Your Behavior Which Will Result in Very Small Changes in Your Life in the Very Distant Future"
9) Have a newly discovered species of crustaceans named after me
10) Learn how to untie any knot (I don't care so much about tying them)
11) Be able to make my own clothes
12) Have eaten my own weight in cheese through the course of an intense one-month cheese diet
13) Be able to cry without actually shedding tears
14) Appear in an episode of House, as a patient presenting with a rare, genetic, expanding eye disorder
15) Have a handlebar mustache on Tuesdays and Thursdays
16) Free-hand draw perfectly parallel lines on command
17) Be fluent in an imaginary language
18) Look professional in a suit jacket, tie, pajama pants, and sneakers
19) Develop an intuitive sense of what is in the trunk of any car I pass
20) Be the president of a company that aims to provide all children in the world with old school roller skates
21) See my family more than once every year
22) Be involved in service work, no matter what my career is, because my vocation is a calling much higher than a job
23) Be able to doubt things that I know are true
24) Change my favorite number to 30
Pretty good set, I think. Today, I have a day off. I have time to relax, to think, to be in fellowship with the people around me. Earlier today, a new volunteer noticed a calendar hadn't been changed for over a month, so she flipped it to April 24. I glanced, and saw that the words for today were "God is love and love is God." A perfect reminder, and a perfect gift, on my birthday. I hope you enjoy my birthday as much as I am right now. Peace.
