TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY.
Another year alive.
Another year of DOF.
And strangely, the older I get, the less birthdays feel like a celebration of age.
They feel like a reminder.
A reminder that I am still here.
Still building.
Still fighting.
Still speaking.
Still stubborn enough to say the things I believe need to be said, even when saying them makes me unpopular.
Over the years, something that started with me talking about food and health became something much bigger than I imagined.
A community.
Of Futurelites.
People have written me from hospital beds.
People have sent me wedding pictures.
Pregnancy news.
Better lab results.
Weight they thought they would never lose.
Meals they finally stopped fearing.
Stories about their mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children.
Some messages have made me laugh.
Some have made me sit quietly with my phone in my hand.
And some have reminded me why I cannot stop doing this.
I know I am not everybody’s cup of tea.
Thank God.
I was never trying to be.
But if somewhere along this journey something I wrote made you take your health seriously…
If I made you question something you had believed your entire life…
If I made you laugh on a terrible day…
If I helped you or someone you love…
Then my life has touched yours.
And that means something to me.
So today, don’t just wish me a happy birthday.
Tell me what DOF has meant to you.
Tell me the post you still remember.
Tell me what changed.
And if you want to appreciate me materially today, you can.
Access Bank
1604599970
DOF
No pressure.
Your words are also a gift.
Today I am grateful for life.
Grateful for the people who stayed.
Grateful for the people who argued with me and still came back tomorrow.
Grateful for every Futurelite who has helped turn one man’s stubborn voice into a movement.
Happy birthday to me.
Happy World DOF Day.
We are still here.
And we are nowhere near finished.