I turned 21 on Monday.
Honestly, turning 21 isn’t as big a deal here, there’s nothing you can do at 21 that you couldn’t do at 18.
Turning 18 was depressing. I felt like I hadn’t accomplished much, and was losing the novelty factor of being a teenager to “make it big”.
On top of that, there was the impending doom that had been weighing down on me since I was old enough to understand.
That no matter what I accomplished, I would be obligated to throw it all away to serve 2 years of mandatory military service.
By God’s grace, I managed to be one of the uber-rare cases of exemption.
While the reasons are personal, I can definitely share that the immense psychological weight being lifted off me has definitely given me a renewed optimism towards life.
Last year was wild.
I was flown out to the US, discovered I truly wasn’t alone in my world views.
Experienced American Protestantism for the first time, and my poor naive “good Catholic boy” self got heckled on what I believed and why I shouldn’t.
At least I had friends though, and I love them either way.
Tried to fly out again. Got deported.
Went through a period of self-discovery that God gifted me with, one that forced me to truly look into my faith.
Lost my faith in the Catholic Church for awhile. In Mary. In the fullness of truth.
Slowly rediscovered it and came back stronger than ever.
To that person out there who God put in my life during that period, you know who you are, and thank you.
I’ll always be grateful and treasure that.
Last year, I learnt that there was so much more to life. I was starstruck by the American dream and the ideas of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, that I had been deprived of all my life.
Perhaps this year, I learnt that there is so much more than this life.
I used to hate the idea of “It’s not about this life, Heaven is your real home.” because it felt like a lazy excuse sugarcoated with a virtuous sentiment of gratitude.
I still do, but perhaps I understand that now in a deeper sense.
That I don’t need to wait for a greencard to be a Saint.
