Wednesday, August 03, 2011

30. It's not so bad.

So, yeah. I totally turned 30. You know what? It wasn't bad at all.

I was having a chat about being in your 30s last night with a new friend, and we both agreed that 30 is so much better than 20. Sure, when you're 20 you get to mess around and have relatively few responsibilities. I mean, I had fun when I was 20, but it was also kind of crazy. When you're 20 you make lots of mistakes. By the time you're 30, you've learned how to avoid making most of those mistakes again.

When you're 30, you know what qualities you appreciate in others and can easily spot those qualities in people. You waste a lot less time on people who don't have any of the things you like in a person. You know so much more about how you react in certain situations. You have a better understanding of where you fit into the world. You can find your people and your places more easily. Your choices are more informed because most of the time you actually have past experiences to draw upon for reference.

Yeah, maybe my back problems are getting worse, but it's okay. I'm having a pretty great time being 30. (Though maybe you should ask me about this again in 6 months. I've only been 30 for about 2 weeks.)

3 comments:

steve said...

I just turned 40 about 2 weeks ago, and while it sucks to get physically older, the skills and experience part that you wrote about are even sharper and more refined. I also find myself caring a lot less about the things that don't truly matter; that alone is worth the hassles of living in an older body.

Hena Tayeb said...

Happy Belated Birthday! I'm still getting over the fact that I turned 27.. most days seem normal.. i hardly think about it.. and then creeps in a form I need to fill out and I need to check a box 18-25 or 26 - 30 and I have to pick the second one... the second one!!!

Unknown said...

Happy Belated Birthday! Great post, you had me smiling from start to finish! You are totally right in many ways about being 30, but to be honest, sometimes I miss being 20!! And, then I look forward and think to when I am 40, ha isn't that funny, I am only JUST about to turn 33, anyways, for some reason, 45 has always been my magic age. I figure by then, I'll have even more of these things that are coming to me at 30 figured out finally!! LOL