Made in 1983 - Turning 30

Well, the end of my 20’s has come. As of Tuesday I say “Sayonara!” to my 20’s and start the decade of the 30’s. Am I freaked out? Surprisingly not really. It’s not as though I will wake up on Tuesday and suddenly feel like a 30 year old. In my experience it doesn’t seem to work like that.

 However a lot of people tend to get squeamish about the idea of turning the big 3-0 because it seems as though the number means that you officially have to become an adult. The 20’s were meant for having fun, exploring the world, experimentation, learning about yourself and meeting Mr. Wrong (and surviving the imminent break-up.) But when you’re 30, you should be done with that “phase” of your life. You should be watching you finances, opening up all kinds of saving accounts and if you haven’t yet, settling down and start having those mandatory kids that the family has been hassling you about for the past 5 years.

“Cause you’re not getting any younger you know?”

Yes, I know. Believe me I know. That large crevice of a wrinkle in between my eyes reminds me every morning. I am lucky enough that my family doesn’t hassle me about the kid thing though. I think that they have come to terms that I am likely to never have kids, or at least they keep their hopes and dreams of my future procreation to themselves.

When I think back to my teenage self and where I expected to be at this point of my life, I am honestly not at all where I thought I would be. I figured I’d be married, done all the school crap and working my dream job (teenage me didn’t know what my dream job was but I was definitely going to working it by 30). I am beginning to get the idea that the majority of people don’t know what their dream job is or when they do finally get their dream job that it isn’t what they expected it to be. It seems that the 30 year olds are either still in school because they ended up not wanting to do what they went to University for in their early 20’s, or they never figured out what they wanted to do with their lives until after the 20’s were over. That whole experimentation and personal learning phase ended up sending them down a path they didn’t expect.

There is definitely a pressure for success and achievement that we are expected to reach by the time we reach 30.  One day you wake up suddenly come to the horrific realization that you’re in the 3^rd decade of your life. What do you have to show for it? With my 3^rd decade only hours away, I think about what I have to show for it. Am I proud of what I have accomplished? Have I accomplished anything up to this point of my life?

Well….I don’t know really! I sit here and think about it and I honestly have no idea how to respond to my own question. My 20’s seem to be a whirlwind of memories of obscene amounts of school and moving. I lived in Nelson for 4 ½ years and learned all about cooking and baking and loved my job at the bakery there. I will forever love the people I met and worked with in that city. I’ve lived in complete opposite ends of the country and traveled back and forth countless times. I moved to PEI where I didn’t know a single person and met friends that I will forever hold near and dear to my heart. Plus I got a BSc degree there, which I suppose it pretty cool. I applied for a job in Victoria that I never ever dreamed of ever getting, and yet here I am in gorgeous Victoria working that job.

I don’t know if “proud” is the word that I would use to describe my 20’s but I learned a lot about myself during that decade – most definitely. And truthfully, I am looking forward to my 30’s because everyone keeps telling me that they are the best! I think the rationale behind this is because you’ve survived so many things, learned from your stupid mistakes and know what you want in life (or at least what you definitely don’t want). At some point you’ve stood up for yourself or someone else and put out a voice into the world that may have never existed. You’ve had kids or have friends who had kids, and your appreciation for their innocence has given you a sweeter heart. You’re less self-conscious of your body not so hung up on the little things that make you “special”. You are caring less of what others think of you because you’ve come to realize that you’re pretty cool after all. You’ve likely dealt with love and likely some death as well and can value the world a whole lot more than you did when you turned 20. 

Like I said, I'm looking forward to this new decade. I can't wait to see what it has planned for me.

Alright 30. Come and get me.