Today, August 9, is my birthday.
If you were missing holidays or good news — today is a good day to celebrate. I took a day off today in anticipation the US Government will make this day a National Holiday. Today is my anniversary (I am thinking my 25th.) Just wanted to send you a note and call for you smile.

As it often happens when one step is achieved and the next one is to come, I had lots of self-inventory going on. Life, for a change, became stable and I found myself in the state that I do not know how to handle — nothing to struggle for, no life to fight for.

For the last five years (in two weeks there will be 5 years since I came to US), and for the last many years prior to coming here, every day was the next step in my struggle to make it out of the Muslim country with no human rights, let alone women rights, out of the dorm, out of perfectionist’s bulimia. The last two years were fights for my dad’s life that my mom and I saved, then for my mom’s life and she is not with me.

For the last three years we have been building a small, but stable company, TnR Global..

My health has not been better since I was 17. I am running a 7 mile race this weekend, ran 7 miles yesterday night and felt great. All dear people are healthy as much as they can be in the age they are. I have got my own house — ‘American dream’ came through. Yes, it is not a Hollywood house yet, but it is mine, and based on bright magazine covers my life is happier than of those with mansions. Our company is stable, and while it could always be better, we hire and we pay on time. We are about to sign an agreement, that with hard work, has a potential to double us in size.

It was odd to realize that I thrive on challenges and hibernate when there is no soul to save, not life to fight for.

The self-inventory part was very helpful, healing, and sobering. It helped me appreciate the part we get reminders about with every birthday — our age. I feel grateful I am not 17; if given a chance, there is no way I could have made it one more time. Boldness got exchanged for efficiency and efficiency is not a best helper in situations where there is no pre-canned answer.

To the dearest people in the world who remembered about my birthday — Thank you so much for sweet notes, cards, calls, voice-mails, sms, songs, pretty flowers, a cake with a rainbow. You made my day!!!

Someone dear wrote to me today: “You give us hope for humanity and the courage to continue on despite adversity. You teach us to care about accomplishments over deeds. You teach us to value time, people, work,
and place over things. Your enthusiasm for possibilities and all that is new and different is infectious. Your rejection of simple concerns, things and small challenges keeps us focused on what is really important.” Thank you, dear author. Your reassured my hope there is a lot to strive for in the years to come.

To those who did not remember or did not know — you still have time to send Happy Birthday Hello. Please let me know when your birthday is so I could send a sunny thought your way.

One more important thing — “The sobering part of self inventory and the next step to come” — I thought who else, but my dear people, can help me figure it out. Please send me the boldest suggestions you can think of for the year and years to come. The only requirement to suggestions — they need be aimed at helping to save the world. I am
not attached to tangible things and a quest to acquire more stuff or tangible pleasures will not move me.

Am very serious about suggestions - something good you have been thinking about and may want to use my brain to make it happen?

I wanted to express my deepest thanks to you, my dear folks, who have been by my side with all this life has brought — sorrows and joys, achievements and lessons to:

• My loving parents who raised me with unconditional love and fear free. Mom, I wish you were here.

• Wise brother, Andrey, with whom we recently reconnected emotionally

• Best niece, Anna, who lights my life, and who I love unconditionally

• My American Family, Rebecca and Geoff Webb and my little sister Ms. Emma, for their love, wisdom, and the bond we have built through years and countries

• Business partner and the most reliable person, Rich Roth, who never left me alone no matter what, and brought me to believe there will be stable times, “just hang on and keep going”,

• Rich’s wife, Sharon Roth, for her wisdom and support,

• TnR Team, for being the team, for professionalism and humanism,

• Jim Pitts, my race coach, dance partner, and a great person who came to my life after I lost my mom, and who means the world to me,

• Ben Brench, UMASS Professor of Finance, for bringing me to write manuscripts about finance matters,

• Lynn Skillen, former boss — in the best sense of this word, for finance and business knowledge he shared with me, for his ‘answer is in details’ reinforcement,

• Terry Stroud, first ‘American’ boss, who by his own example taught me “Leaders never quit, quitters never lead”,

• My friends, who unfortunately, keep moving further and further, or I move and we lose the bond we had when we were closer.