why am i celebrating my 22nd birthday?

So on the eve of my 21st birthday last year, I wrote this blog post: 
the 21 things that 2012 made me grateful for.

I thought that I would do something similar this year. Warning, it is going to be a lot more sappy than my usual robotic style. Friends who know me, don't be shocked. 

Every year, all of us get asked a very basic question when our birthdays are round the corner: 'What are you doing to celebrate?' And for me it's very simple. I like to host small, classy dinners, or buy my friends tea, lunch or something casual like that. But I never really considered why. I guess it just always seemed like tradition to me. 

I thought about it yesterday, and I realized that I celebrate my birthday because I have some really awesome friends across this globe. Friends who deserve to be treated in small ways, whether it is through dinner, drinks or whatever weird thing it is I decide to do. I celebrate my birthday because it is the best excuse I can use to pay my friends back for all the fantastic things that they have done for me. Without them, I would be some kind of empty, hermit crab shell husk thingie. 

So that is what I am grateful for this year, on the eve of my 22nd birthday. For the friends who have made me who I am and who have stood by me through the challenges of this year. For the friends who have helped me become more comfortable with myself, and who have given me abs because I laughed so hard at their lame jokes. You guys (apart from my immediate family) are my reason for living, and you know who you are. 

-Nad