Congratulations

I had my 26 birthday yesterday. Since the epic turning of 21 I have pretty much stopped getting excited for September 17th to come along. It seemed like another year just meant getting that much closer to 30.
And Time is, indeed, relentless.
Back home the traditional greeting on one's inception day is "Happy Birthday." On my first birthday in Germany I heard a lot of "Congratulations!" I do not know if it is a difference in culture or just a slight translation variance, but it got me to thinking...
The coming of another birthday is indeed an achievement deserving of a 'congrats.' We take it for granted in our First-World Supermarket, penicillin days of today, but Survival is the name of the game. Another year lived in the days of our early ancestors was gigantic. Huge fractions of our population at intervals through history have perished because of incurable plague -- plagues that did not discriminate from Peasant or Pericles. Wars have left entire generations 'Lost.'
Each year, indeed each sunrise, and each breath is an accomplishment. 'Young' is a state of mind. And because on the most basic level, your actual birth day is the starting point on a path to certain death, congratulate yourself each you extend the 'finish line.'