"Well, that's interesting." Tuck seemed to perk up a bit. "Like you said, the Gregorian calendar starts counting from an arbitrary point. And still, the year 2000 was significant to us."

"But it wasn't significant," I protested, "it was just a nice round number. There weren't many people who actually thought that January 1, 2000 would mark the second coming of Christ or anything like that. It was just an odometer rolling over, completely meaningless."

"Jack, your birthday is also just a time when an odometer rolls over, but you still celebrate it, and in fact it's one of the most important dates to you. Why?"

"Why? Because it's my birthday! It's a time for reflection, a time to look back on my experiences of the past year, assess how they went, and do some looking ahead to the future."

Tuck countered, "But you could do that any time of the year. What is so special about your birthday? What makes that date meaningful enough that it takes you out of your normal routine, and makes you take a step back and think about your life?"

I paused briefly, searching for a decent answer. "I guess there's no reason I couldn't do the same things on any other day, but because it's the anniversary of my birth, it motivates me to think about my life."

"Yes, that's exactly it!" Tuck's eyes were bright with enthusiasm. "There's nothing about the date itself that makes it different from the day before or the day after, not in any meaningful way. But because of the emotional attachment you have to that date, it has the power to awaken you to a higher level of consciousness."

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