Why are Birthdays special?

Have you ever wondered why birthdays are so special? We all worry about aging, whether we say, "I'm young at heart"or pretend to be immune to the ravages of time. One sentence or the other in our conversation always belies the truth. Inspite of all this I have yet to see a person who doesn't feel a wee bit excited on his or her birthday. We all wish that there was somebody who remembered and somebody who would make this day special for us.

One can perhaps say that as we love ourselves and life, birthdays are perhaps a celebration of being born on this earth. They are a celebration of the life force. Well that is true indeed but there are so many other things that celebrate the life force. Why is it that our birthday is that special to us?
I have always tried to figure out this mystery. When people are so scared of the aging process why do we celebrate birthdays with such elan?Perhaps it is one of our impulses that loves a contradiction. This to me seems to be the only reason. I know that the most age conscious amongst us remember their birthdays and celebrate it in great style. Some people would say that it is the child in us, well I'm not too sure about what it is that makes us celebrate birthdays and yet worry about aging and it is not always the fear of imminent death that makes us scared of aging. I guess this will always remain a mystery like all other things in life. More musings later...