What Happens When Birthdays Become Checkpoints? | Happy Birthday Gurasis Singh (Host) 🎂

What happens when birthdays transform from celebrations into anxiety-inducing checkpoints? That's the journey I explore in this deeply personal episode, recorded on my birthday, July 9th, 2025.

The stark contrast between last year's emotional heaviness and this year's sense of peace reveals a profound transformation. Last July found me questioning everything, feeling lonely, and seeing no reason to celebrate. Those feelings preceded months of health struggles and hospital visits that taught me not to take wellness for granted. Yet today, I wake with gratitude instead of focusing on what's missing. The energy feels completely different—I've learned that happiness isn't something external but something cultivated within.

This shift didn't happen overnight. It required unlearning harmful beliefs about success, timelines, and self-worth. I've discovered the liberation that comes with consistency rather than perfect timing, with trusting the process rather than demanding immediate results. Perhaps most importantly, I've learned to be kinder to myself—to celebrate progress rather than punishing myself for not reaching arbitrary milestones.

If you've ever felt the weight of expectations or wondered if you're falling behind in life, this episode offers both comfort and perspective. Through vulnerable reflection, I share the metaphor that best describes my current state: feeling the warmth of the sun after enduring a heavy snowstorm. Because ultimately, we are all exactly where we're supposed to be, even when it's messy or hard to see. Your timeline is yours alone—be patient with your becoming.

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Birthday 2023 Episode: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1835261/episodes/13186948

Chapters

• 0:19 Welcome to My Birthday Episode
• 1:05 Birthday Messages from Loved Ones
• 2:22 Reflecting on Past Birthdays
• 4:44 This Year Feels Different
• 7:16 A Message to Future Me
• 9:26 You Are Where You're Supposed To Be

Transcript

Gurasis: 0:00

Hey everyone, welcome back to my Thick Accent. I'm your host, guru Sees, and today is July 9th, 2025, and it's my birthday. So this has become an annual tradition for us and I'm so grateful that you are here to celebrate with me another year, and today's episode is going to be a little different from our usual formats. We are going to start with some beautiful audio messages from our family and friends, and then I want to take you on a journey through this past year, reflecting on where I was, where I am now and where I am heading. And I'll be honest with you, this year feels different. There's something different about this year from previous birthdays and I want to share that. There's something different about this year from previous birthdays and I want to share that transformation with you all. We will talk about the growth, about being kinder with ourselves, and I hope by the end of this episode, you'll feel a little more connected to your own journey. So let's just dive in. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. I know it's cringe, but yeah, happy birthday man. Happy birthday sis. Happy birthday gurushe. God bless you. Happy birthday, mamu. Hope you have a wonderful day. Happy birthday mamu. Hope you have a wonderful day. Happy birthday mamu. Wow, you know, every year when I receive these messages, I'm I'm reminded of how blessed I am. And these voices you know my family, my friends and my beautiful nieces. You know they. They really are the soundtrack to my life and I want to take a moment to acknowledge each one of you who took the time to record these messages. You know, in our busy lives, you stopped, you thought of me, you press record and you shared your love. That means everything to me. Thank you for being the constants in my life and for believing in me, even when I don't believe in myself sometimes. You know, I was thinking about birthdays and how I have experienced them over the past few years and, honestly, I haven't really celebrated my birthday in many years maybe three to four years now, and if I reflect on those in 2022, I had just moved back to Montreal from Halifax after getting a job here. A friend visited. We celebrated very briefly. That was a good time. 2023 I didn't do anything in particular apart from going to the Gurudwara, the Sikh temple, but the good thing was that in that one year, I did visit New York for the first time, so I think, which was nice. But 2024, wow.

Gurasis: 2:48

Last year wasn't really the best time for me. July was very, very heavy month. I was emotional, I felt quite lonely and, honestly, I just wasn't happy. I didn't feel there is a reason to celebrate. You know and apart from going to the temple Gurdwara that's just the ritual I follow I try to go to the Gurdwara every year on my birthday.

Gurasis: 3:14

For the past few years, birthdays have felt more like checkpoints, you know, like okay, so what have you done so far? You know, where are you in your life? Have you made the money you wanted or are you at the right place? Done so far? Where are you in your life? Have you made the money you wanted or are you at the right place in your career when you're getting married, and 20 other questions that you ask yourself on your birthday. It's exhausting, honestly. But this year, this year, is different.

Gurasis: 3:40

But before we get into that, I want to reflect on my last year. So if I could sit with the version of myself from one year ago today, that guy who was struggling, who felt lonely and who was going through that heavy July, I think I would just want to give a tight hug to him and I would probably tell him something like this Listen, you are stronger than you're giving yourself credit for. You are wiser than you think. Don't let everything happening around you disconnect you from who you really are. I know the next 10 months are going to feel like a test, but they are actually preparing you for something you'll be really proud of. And you know what I wish I could have told that version of me. That was about the health struggles coming up, which will last for months. From october 2024 through april 2025 is the time when I fell sick with different things. Back to back, those hospital visits wow. But I'll tell my younger self that those hospital visits aren't just setbacks. They are actually going to teach you something valuable about not taking your health for granted. And that loneliness that you're feeling right now, that emotional weight, it's not punishment. It's actually preparing you to appreciate what you will be a year from now. It's teaching you that happiness isn't something you find outside of yourself. It's something you within.

Gurasis: 5:22

Okay, so what's shifted this year? The energy feels completely different. I wake up feeling more positive, more grateful. Instead of focusing on what's missing, I'm actually counting my blessings. I'm more focused on my goals, especially growing this podcast and building something meaningful. I'm starting to recognize the signs that things are aligning. I'm staying positive, but not in that forced way where you are scared to jinx it. It's more like I am at peace with the process. I know that what's meant for me will find its way to me, what's meant to happen will happen, but I have to stay positive and trust. The journey Going to the gym has been huge for this shift.

Gurasis: 6:06

By the way, there's something about the routine, that discipline, that's been helping me stay more grounded. This version of me has learned something that the last one didn't you know, which is I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. I need to be patient. I am becoming who I'm supposed to be. I need to be patient. I am becoming who I am meant to be.

Gurasis: 6:28

I've had to unlearn so much this year about success. I used to think it was about timing and results, but now I see it's about consistency. Even when you don't feel motivated. About happiness, I learned I was chasing it in all the wrong places when it was inside of me. All along About timelines, I realized I have no control over them, and that's actually liberating. I'm learning what it means to be kinder with myself. For so long, I would punish myself for feeling happy about small wins because I hadn't reached some arbitrary milestone yet. I would refuse to celebrate progress, but now I'm allowing myself to feel proud of the journey, not just the destination. Okay, if I had to describe this birthday as a metaphor, it would be like feeling the warmth of the sun after enduring a heavy snowstorm. That's exactly how it feels like I have weathered something and now I can feel the light again.

Gurasis: 7:40

And now a message to future me, to July 9, 2026, Kurasis. I will tell him why didn't you tell me Things are going to work out so good? But seriously, future me. I hope you remember this moment. I hope you remember the person who was learning to be kinder with himself. I hope you remember the journey, not just the destination.

Gurasis: 8:05

I want you to know that right now, on July 9, 2025, I believe in our vision. I know we will be successful. I trust that our journey is unfolding exactly as it should be. There's something I'm finally ready to say out loud to the world that I believe in my vision and I know I will be successful. Not because everything is perfect, but because I have learned to trust the process To everyone listening to this. I want you to know that we are all human. We all have those heavy Julys. We all have those moments where birthdays feel like interrogations rather than celebrations. But here's what I have learned you are exactly where you are supposed to be. I know it's messy, heavy and hard to see, but you are exactly where you're supposed to be. Brick by brick, story by story, you will see. You are exactly where you're supposed to be. Those lines hit differently now than when I wrote them. These are actually part of my poem which I'll share with you guys. And they hit different because I am living them now. I am proof that the storm passes. I am proof that the sun comes out.

Gurasis: 9:23

Stop justifying your choices to people. If you don't feel the energy you don't want to do it, why force it? Just because of what will people say? Your timeline is your timeline. Your journey is your journey. Be patient with yourself. You are becoming, and that becoming it's beautiful, even when it doesn't feel like it. And you know what instantly transports me to those childhood birthdays? It's the. It's the smell of those burning numbered wax candles, you know, and the sound of people singing the birthday song out of sync. There is something so amazingly imperfect about that, just like life. Thank you for being here with me today. Thank you for allowing me allowing me see my accent slips as well. Thank you for allowing me to share this space with you, for letting me be vulnerable and for being part of this journey. This is your host, gurisheesh, and this has been another episode, amazing episode, of my Ethic Accent. Until next time, remember, you are exactly where you're supposed to be.