I came across Christina's blog, several months ago and have been a fan and frequent visitor ever since. She has great pictures, great stories, and a terrific writing style. A short while ago I asked if she'd be interested in writing a guest post and yesterday I had the following lovely article in my e-mail. Thank you, Christina!
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Had this been a post about my twenties you all would be in for a real dramatic roller coaster of frightening mistakes and harrowing tragedies.
Thankfully Erin asked me to blog about my thirties and since I am only going to be 31 this fall I have little to share in the way of experience. Because of this I can title my post "Turning 30" instead of "Your 20's: Mistakes you don't want to make." As you can already guess, I spent a better part of my twenties making as many mistakes as humanly possible to ensure that:
1. I'd have it out of my system by my 30's.
2. By some freak of nature I'd manage to actually learn my lessons.
3. I could write this blog post for Erin.
Often, for me, it feels as though my 20's were insanely different from where I am headed now. A different time, a different person and a very different experience. I could go on and on until we end up with a 600 page novel, but for now here's a brief summary of what has changed for me in my thirties:
1. I like cats. I have no idea how this even happened.
2. I am called Ma'am more and carded for alcohol less.
3. As I neared my 30's I found my interests rapidly changing, specifically in men. For instance I required they not be douchebags anymore.
4. I have to exercise now and getting back into exercise is not as easy as it used to be. Come to think of it before I was 30 I didn't really even need to exercise.
5. The value of friendship has never been more clear. I've reached an understanding that you outgrow friendships. You become mature enough to know which friends are worth letting go and which ones are worth holding on to.
6. I don't try to keep up with the Joneses because...well, I'm not a Jones.
7. I am almost always positive that clothing trends of teenagers are stupid...this includes the clothing I wore as a teenager, when I was stupid.
8. I can no longer eat 10 slices of pizza or 15 crunchy tacos from Taco Bell without consequence. See #04.
9. Life seems more settled; or maybe it's better to say that I feel more stable.
10. The one thing that has changed most for me since hitting 30 is that statistically speaking I have many years left to live but realistically speaking I am learning to live each day like it is my last.
I don't really miss my twenties and I'm very excited about my thirties...I don't want to even think about my 40's.
All sooo very true. I'm soon to be 34 and while that number scares me (for some reason it sounds so much older than 33 - probably b/c it feels like "mid" thirties instead of "early"), I'm still pretty comfortable with it and would never want to be the 20something me again. I don't regret it - just don't want to do it all again (although going back with the smarts and hubby I have now wouldn't be too bad).
Christina, you really hit the nail on the head with almost all of these in terms of my experience as well.
I really like the way you put #6 and #10. They are two very important lessons to learn. I think we gain more confidence in our late twenties, early thirties, and discover that we don't need to try and be like or keep up with everyone (anyone) else. Unfortunately many of us also gain experience with death around that time and realize how precious life is, and how short it can be.
Also, oh how I miss all the pizza and ice cream and mozz sticks!
Candice, I'm pretty sure I went through the same thing at 24! Ha. Given the choice, I don't think I'd want to go back to my 20's either. I like the increased stability and increased self-confidence.
As some of my younger friends panic, with 30 looming ever closer, I keep telling them: I love my 30s *so* much more than I ever did my 20s! In fact, given the choice, I think I would go back to my teens again before my 20s. =P
Dawn, I love my thirties too. Much better than trying to fit in and find out who you are as a person in your twenties. Hmm, maybe new post topic. Maybe a guest post?!