Birthdays mean something very different to me now. When you grow up around war and displacement, you don’t necessarily spend much time imagining what your life might look like decades from now. For a long time, life was simply about getting through what was immediately in front of me - traumas and survival. So reaching a milestone has made me reflect. Not because I think everything happens for a reason. I don’t believe suffering needs to be romanticised. There are experiences I would never wish on another person. But I do believe we can decide what we do with the life that comes afterwards. Some of the things I once struggled through eventually shaped the way I understand other people. They shaped the doctor I became, the work I chose to pursue and the importance I now place on family, connection and helping people who are carrying difficult experiences of their own. Maybe that is why birthdays feel so meaningful to me today. They are not really about getting older. They are a r...