I don’t feel older but I’m officially 30. I have a hard time describing what this age milestone means to me. A part of me doesn’t feel 30 mostly because I thought things would be different, like suddenly you reach that age and things change.
I probably felt the same way about turning 18 or 21, but 30 has distinction. It has maturity. It has responsibility. It is halfway to 60 and the beginning of the roller coaster to becoming an old man.
I’m not disappointed or have regrets with the last three decades but I just thought 30 would be a little more special or a little more of a personal and career milestone. I think the truth I’m realizing is that you won’t have everything figured out at 30, and just because you turned another year older you don’t receive a pamphlet on how to deal with “the rest of your life”. I’m not sure where I’ll be at 40, let alone 35, and I was always under the impression that when you hit 30 you could answer those questions.
Here is to turning another year older, trying to find my place in the world and pretending like I know what I’m doing and having it all figured out.
30 feels very much the same as 29, which felt the same as 28, and on downwards. The gradual change doesn’t really hit very hard.
That said, 31 was the realization that I was pulling away from 30. I imagine 40 will feel similar. “Where did the time go”.
Either way, embrace it. We were once the leaders of tomorrow. Now it’s tomorrow and apparently we’re in charge.
The slow trickle away from the age milestone is a little scary. The time from 20 to 30 didn’t feel that long but if I look back on that time nearly everything of importance I have done with my life has happened in the last ten years and it was over in a *snap*.
You hear that people wake up at a certain age and wonder where their life went and I can kind of see it. One day I’m 30 and the next I’m 40 and that’s it. It’s a little scary and exciting, I just hope I can make the most of the next decade and get to my next age milestone feeling content with where I have gone.