Oh gosh. Friday, already? 
.
Tick tock. Tick. Tock.
Seconds pass, then minutes. Hours turn into days and before we know it, almost half of January is gone already. Am I still in the festive mood, what with Christmas and New Year’s Eve still fresh in my mind and still we have the Chinese New Year to beckon with.
And my thirtieth birthday approaching rapidly as some well-meaning friends keep reminding me. Oh me oh my. Three decades of Kenny Mah and where am I, I wonder?
.
Tick tock. Tick. Tock.
Seconds pass, then minutes. Hours fade into days and week and months and years. Time can be a cruel observer of our lives. Silent but steady and sure. Time will slip us a precise, inconvenient question when you least expect it like a knife into our gut where it hurts the most — what have you done with your life, with your three decades allotted to you thus far?
.
Tick tock. Tick. Tock.
Time won’t wait for me, I know. But I have no answers, no easy resolutions. I have been reading old letters, old words I once penned and I notice this; if nothing else, I have at last learned to smell the damn flowers, even if I ain’t sure if they are roses. Don’t matter, really, when you get yourself a whiff of what it feels like to be alive, now, right now, even as the stopwatch continues beeping and the years keep turning.
Tick tock. Tick. Tock. Ain’t no snooze button on my clock.
.
~ * ~
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Artwork designed by Kenny Mah using photographs by Rita Mezzela & A. Carlos Herrera.
time waits for no man truly. carpe diem!
Permission to print and laminate it. Very useful reminder next to the bathroom mirror
30 is just the beginning I think. Haven’t researchers come to the conclusion that people only really come into their own in their mid-30s? I think your readers are going to be in for a treat over the next few years…
But damn, that tick tock tick tock sound is reminding me I need to get back to work… =(
» jack phua
Time waits for no man, and let’s not wait for time either, eh?
» Chin
Permission granted, sir! I’d be flattered.
» Jesse
“Haven’t researchers come to the conclusion that people only really come into their own in their mid-30s? I think your readers are going to be in for a treat over the next few years…”
Well, let’s wait till I actually turn 30. I still have ten more days of being 29 y.o. to savour…
30 is the new start of life..have fun embracing the 4th decade that is waiting..
alas thats all i can say..for im enjoying my 3rd decade..with many more years to come..
» lotsofcravings
“for im enjoying my 3rd decade..with many more years to come..”
Eesh, eesh. Talk about a knife straight into the gut…
the 3rd decade is also the start of the battle of the bulge aka tummy gets bigger. LOL..
age is only a number..
go ahead…pick one number and stay comfortable with it (mind, body & soul) for the rest of your life !!
i am always twenty eight..not a day more, nor a day less..hehe
This is one good reflection for us all.
Time definitely waits for no man, and for that we have to treasure every ticks and tocks of the clock, right?
There will come a day, I will do the same thing too; reminiscing of the past- pictures, friends and writings too. A natural cycle, it is.
Be happy, Kenny!
You might then have several more mistakes you can still afford to make. As the uncountable ticks by. Just remember to not repeat them , such is the lessons of life. Where every second is never the same and new friends enter
» keropokman
Now you’re just bullying me!
*pouts*
» jeff lee
Haha, then I’m sticking with 26.. Nice, round number. (Uhm, forget I said round, okay?)
» moja
Oh I am happy. And very fortunate to boot.
» backStreetGluttons
Here’s to new friends entering our lives!
so will this be ur 30th or 26th birthday? lol
» kristopher
It’s gonna be my I’m thirty-turning-twenty-six birthday?
ru gonna stick at 26 every year from now on? lol
30th? Hmm wonder what was I like in d old days. Tok-tok-tok goes my cane.
» ~ elfie ~
Why… you read my mind! LOL
» Tummythoz
Hehe, I go tok-tok-tok too, but it ain’t my cane…
29??! You’re practically still a baby!!
I was having this conversation the other night with a friend, lamenting about our underachievement in our early 30s, but this post has rightfully reminded me that we should celebrate that we’ve made it past 30 years alive, sanity intact! The journey hence continues….
» 550ml jar of faith
29 and still a baby? You have no idea how happy you made me with that last statement of yours.
And I agree… it’s not a time for lamenting but for celebrations!
“Tick tock. Tick. Tock. Ain’t no snooze button on my clock.”
that’s very inspiring, kenny. live life, every minute of it. =)
No matter how old we are.. as the lyrics goes:
“..life goes on
And this old world
Will keep on turning..”
» masni
Every minute. Every second of it. This would be my goal for 2009, and for the rest of my life, really.
» jemima
Very true. And which song is this? For some reason I reminds me of a Tina Turner song… Hehe…
Definitely not a Tina Turner song.
It’s an OLDIE that my dad was listening to earlier this evening.. “For the Good Times”.
There are many versions.. Elvis, Perry Como, Kris Kristofferson.
The one he listened to was by Kenny Rogers.
*wonders if Kenny Mah feels young not to know any of those singers except maybe Elvis & Kenny Rogers*
Chk out the song here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDkFu_xCoBQ
» jemima
Hehe, I do know Perry Como and Kris Kristofferson. One sang Xmas songs and the other acted in action movies, right?
life starts at 30 my friend
(or whatever age you wish it to start) i’ve got a girl friend who’s turning 29 next mth. she’s throwing a big bash. and then she says, after that, she will not mention her birthday anymore. no more celebrations. but i dont agree lo. every year and every birthday should be celebrated no?
its all in the mind and age really is just a number.
sometimes i get these bouts of self loathe and despair, wondering what have i achieved? what have i done for the past 20odd years and where am i headed?
funny isnt how when we were young, we thought being an adult would automatically give you all the answers. but sadly we now know that it is not true. we don’t have all the answers. but i suppose that’s what makes life fun. the journey. not the destination.
they say that the first 4 decades are the toughest as one learns to live and love from scratch. the next few decades will be when you start to enjoy what you have learnt.
at 30, the lessons continue and looking at lifeforbeginners, i’m sure the path forward is a promising one!
» lingzie
1. Yeah, I’ve friends like that too. But you guys do know I’m only joking about reverting back to 26, right? LOL
28 was better than all the years before that, and 29 even better, so I can only guess at how amazing 30 will be.
2. Adulthood doesn’t bring more answers, dear. Just more questions.
» Nic (KHKL)
Maybe I should write a post called “Being 30 for Beginners”?
You’re 30 already??
Whoa.
You sure don’t seem anywhere near the big 3-0.
» Vern
No. No. No. I’m so not thirty! C’mon!
… not for another ten days anyway…
it will be my goal too, for 2009 and the rest of it.
btw, will u have a birthday celebration? we love to see pics!
» masni
Haha, a birthday celebration? Uhm… er… well… We’ll see, won’t we?
Time can be cruel but not as cruel as what humans do to one another.
time is relentless. let us live quickly and furiously! =)
» Isaac
We are at war at each other because we are at war in our own hearts. I believe this to be true and this is why we, why I struggle each day and that the struggle is a worthy one.
Keep the faith, Isaac.
» wintergirl
Fast and Furious!
clocks rock!!
Kenny, so inspiring… lovely blog!
time and tide waits for no man! and yes, we should appreciate everyday..wont know if we get to live and see the next..
No mouse went up the clock? :p
» spiller
Yes they do (that is, if you don’t knock them clocks, haha.)
» wahaza extra
Thanks!
» sc
That is so true and sobering. I can’t repeat this mantra enough: Live in the now, live in the now.
» tigerfish
Not sure, but there is a louse that lives in the sock that is locked in the clock…
Time fly… getting old…. hope could have more time….
» Edward
Dude. You are TWENTY-TWO. You are so not complaining about aging, man.
i know! where did the year go??? well the main thing is to have lived it well and with no regrets rite… also, having a baby face helps la .. lol:D
» cumidanciki
Babyface? Yeah well, that’s you and the Devil Wears Prada. Me, I’m lucky if this ugleous mug o’ mine can even be called a face in the first place…
What have we done in the past *add number* years of our lives?
And what are we going to do for the next *add another number* years of our lives?
What’s in our past? How did it make us who we are in the present? And how is it going to shape the future?
Oh, I forgot.
*bear hug*
» Michelle
All these questions… and our lives aren’t about the answers so much as simply searching for them.
*bear hug back*
All these years that pass
Till we are alone at last
From birth to grave
All the love we gave…
» Célestin
All the love we gave
Was not that grave
Simply something that last
When all these years do pass…
the minutes and the day… they pass us by but let us not pass our own lives by!
Time won’t wait for you, Kenny but you sure are making the best of it!
» the_lighthouse
Man, that’s poetic. And true!
» Steven
I hope so, I really hope so, bro.