My 50th Birthday Gift, in Advance.

For the past few days, I've been telling anyone who cares to listen that on my next birthday, I'm giving myself an early 50th birthday gift. The looks I get when I say this! I'm pretty sure some are thinking, "This one has gone crazy." But there's nothing new about me making a birthday commitment; it's become a tradition. Each year, on my birthday, I reflect on the year that has passed.

This year, however, is slightly different. I found myself wondering if I ever took the time to appreciate my 40th birthday milestone, which happened six years ago. It seems important now to look back. In my reflection, I realised that I have not seen much of my life since I turned 40. I was too busy trying to live, including navigating the effects of the COVID-19 era on my life.

And you know what? Life waits for no one.

Here’s what I can say about the past several years: When I turned 40, my son was turning 20. Today, as I mark my 46th birthday, my first daughter is turning 20, and my second daughter has just turned 11. I am a very proud parent, having raised such beautiful human beings.

Of course, ageing—yes, ageing—comes with other unpleasant issues. This is when the body starts to show signs of unreliability. I have been unfortunate to have lived more than half of my life with a chronic illness, HIV. Over the past few years, I’ve also been diagnosed with diabetes and hypertension. If you’ve been there, you know that once you are on medication for both, you automatically end up with cholesterol management medication as well.

No one wants that! It's just too much. But that's my life.

Throughout my reflection period, some things became clear. At the beginning of this year, I asked myself this question: "What is the one thing I should do this year that will make everything else in my life easier?" I identified being healthy as that one thing. My logic was, and still is, that if I am healthy, I can achieve much more.

I have just passed the halfway mark of 2024, and there has been nothing healthy about it. It turns out that being healthy is hard work! It is not just the pills I must take; it includes managing life stresses and many other complex things.

Another realisation came through a comment by my friend, Paddy Nhlapo. We were at a meeting about ageing with HIV when he said, “Most people who survived the early days of HIV and are now ageing with it are unpensionable pensioners." Sounds funny, right? It is actually a reality for many long-term HIV survivors. Despite my education, I fall into that bracket, and this is a story for another blog. Paddy's comment constantly reminds me that I am also financially unhealthy.

Today, as I mark yet another year in my life, I recommit myself to this life project of removing my unhealthy situations. I recognise that time is not on my side, but I am still here, and I am determined to change my own game.

And that is the 50th birthday gift I am giving myself today—four years early.

Come join me as I try to be my own game changer.