Beyond big milestones we don't spend too much time thinking about our birthdays and what that actually means about our age - we just add one year to the tally and keep going.
Some people love a big party while others let the day quietly pass by without fanfare. Meanwhile, many of us want to avoid thinking about ageing and its impact on our bodies and it can fill us with dread, but one woman has left people mind-blown with a strange birthday revelation.
20-year-old TikToker @keeleysmithhx shared her thoughts about the ageing process and left followers confused and having "an existential crisis" with one simple sentence.
Discover, learn, grow. We are Curiously. Follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
In a five second clip she wrote: "Me realising that whatever age you turn on your birthday is what you have completed not what you're starting."
Essentially, she realised that when you turn 20 it's because you have lived for 20 years, not because you are starting your 20th year.
Babies have their age measured in months before turning one so your age is lived age plus however many months not the year you are living.
Keeley captioned her video: "Anyone else confused ???" and the comments didn't disappoint with people divided over those who didn't realise and those finding the whole thing funny.
One said: "Wait this is confusing but also makes sense because then you've been alive for that many years." while another joked: "My brain just buffered."
A third said: "I'm going to scroll past this like I didn’t panic about it after I read it", and a fourth put: "Oh my god this is giving me an existential crisis."
"Now I'm gonna think about this everyday," said one perplexed commenter, while others couldn't believe it had never crossed their minds.
Some people slightly misunderstood what Keeley meant, with one writing: "So if it's like that then your [sic] a year older."
Another said: "So I'm really 30 and not 29." This isn't exactly true as before your birthday you haven't lived that many years yet, as one commenter explained: "It's kind of both?? You may have lived 21 years but you won't have lived 22 years until your next bday."
Among the super confused masses, many said this was common practice in other cultures - one said: "Unless you're in Korea, where you're born as an 1 year old."
"Me when old Indian people always say this and always ask me how many years I have completed instead of my age," added a different commenter.
For some this wasn't a shocking revelation, with one person commenting: "Uh...is this not common sense? that's what...aging is?" and a second saying: "Common sense not so common."
Another added: "I thought everyone knew this. On a baby's first birthday they have been alive for one year….then that just continues."
Anyone who is still confused, the TikTok simply means your age is the years you have lived - not the one you're currently living - but you're not a year older because you haven't reached the next full year yet.
Do you have a story to share? We pay for stories. Email us at yourmirror@mirror.co.uk
