Making 30 look good
I turned 30 years old on Friday.
Apparently I’m supposed to be wringing my hands and flopping upon couches, alternately bemoaning my descent into “MIDDLE AGE” and desperately trying to resurrect my newly dead 20s as if it were supposed to save my life, because we all know life is [allegedly] over once you hit the big three-oh. In all fairness, I will admit that I was once briefly worried about turning 30 back when I was in my teens but that was so long ago [ha!] that it was obviously because I hadn’t lived long enough to realize just how tame turning 30 actually is.
And you know what? Turning 30 is a kind of a big non-event event. Let me explain: 30 is always a big deal because it’s a milestone birthday [like 1, 10 [first year in double digits!], 16, 18, 21, 40, 50 and so forth] but it’s also so not a big deal because it’s just another year. I will say, in my expert opinion, now that I’ve been 30 for all of four days, I’ve come to this conclusion: 30 is awesome! It really isn’t this horrid thing that some people make it out to be. Let’s face it, you spend the first third of your life figuring out who you are and what you want. You struggle and flail about. You wear all black one day and then pastel colors the next. You live in a constant state of confusion. This is what your teens and 20s are filled with: turbulence. We’ve all been there and know what I’m talking about. It’s exhausting. But by the time you’re 30, all the experimenting is done. You’ve got the hard stuff figured out and are now securely in cruise control. And you know what? It feels so good to not worry about stuff like that. Now I can focus on more important things. Thinks like, how many food items can I pair with bacon [so far: a lot].
What’s left to do at this point is taking some time to reassess my personal vision and goals, because it’s always a good idea to take some time every few years to reevaluate your life’s goals and their relevancy to what you want and where you are. This I learned in my 20s. See! Another great thing about turning 30: finally being able to use all those little life lessons you picked up earlier. They all suddenly make sense now!
But seriously, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next 30 years will bring me. There are some really big things on the horizon for me: marriage, kids, a career defining moment of awesomeness, some more random fun. Maybe I’ll even make one of those “30 things to do while 30″ lists [I love lists].
But for now, I’m going to enjoy the first few weeks of being a newly minted 30-year old.
And so far, one of the best things about turning 30? Getting an awesome cake like this:
I’ll turn any age if it means I get cake.