Friday, April 16, 2010

I am turning thirty tomorrow

30 seems like a big number.

Where have all the time gone. It was almost yesterday when I was still 25.

There seemed to be a lot of expectations and changes.

Friends are getting married.
Having kids.
Moving on with their career.
Owning houses.

And there is a sense of lostness.

I don't think I changed that much. Some say I am more mature. I still think I am just as immature in my thinking :P. Laughs and joke a lot.

Last night, I was reading Experiencing God. There was one section where the author wrote that we tend to look at time as temporary. Whereas God looks the eternal picture. When we view time as how God views it, we wouldn't be worry about what happen in the future.

hmm....

This morning, my mom showed me a few photos I haven't seen before. This was taken right after I had my transplant.

Here's two of them. They were taken about four months after my transplant at my first transplant games. Side note: I won my first gold for 5 km bike race :)

My first bike that have more than one gear. I rode it through grade 5-grade 8.


I can still remembering before I crossed the finish line, people were cheering at me to keep going. There was a kid who was right behind me.

I was riding tonight and I thought about this. When I looked at my past...in the past five years, I did one Ironman, a few Half Ironmans and marathons, went to Australia to win a gold and silver in the World Transplant Games. I had a chance to speak in a number of engagement to share my experience.

It's just amazing how things turn out. If five, ten or fifteen years ago, someone told me all these I would think they are nuts. And to be honest, sometimes I feel like I ain't in control. It is like sitting front row watching myself move along this crazy track call life.

....hmm....yeah...just grateful to be alive...

What are the odds of...
  1. Migrate to Canada and received FREE medical and health plan (my family pay nothing for my operation and the drugs I am taking right now)
  2. Diagnose with cancer from a random blood test (I had no visible signs of having cancer)
  3. Be on the Waiting list and found an organ in six months (most people died from waiting too long)
  4. No body rejections from this still un-proven operation
  5. Getting drunk (lots!) in university and the liver is still healthy
  6. Having a liver transplant for 19 year and it keeps on ticking! (Well liver doesn't really tick..but you know what I mean)
  7. Swim, bike and run long....and loving it...

Seems like a miracle to me....



Thanks for reading...

As for me, I think I will keep riding and enjoy the scenery.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Many Happy Returns, Cliff! This is your Big Aunt. We all should GRACE the Lord. He does not just keep an eye on you, He sends His blessings to your family too, so that you can forcus on your pursuit of a meaningful live. I love you.

ps. DON'T drink anymore. You were adding workload on your guardian angles !

Anonymous said...

Seems like a miracle to me too Cliff. Hope you are riding for many more years.

Thomas said...

I haven't got your history, of course, but I turned 40 a few months ago, and that's a much bigger number.

All the best.

Still to tris when you're 40. The masters category is a lot of fun.

ShirleyPerly said...

Happy Belated Birthday!!

Fun to see those photos of you as a kid. Glad you were able to come to Canada.