First off thanks to eveyrone that’s wished me a happy birthday today. You’ve all played some part in my life and who I am today was partially due to your influence. I’m glad to have met you all..or at least most of you =) even if it was even for a short period.
Now that I’m officially 1 year into my 30s I can easily say that it’s not all that different. I mean there are some things that due change. I think some parts of my body want to slow down a bit and stuff like staying healthy weighs a bit more on your mind, but I think all of that just comes down to being wiser.
I think I can also say that I’m not quite where I thought I’d be at this point, but I’m not sure it’s all bad. When I think about the 31 years that have passed I think about people I’ve met and forgot, but mostly the friends that I’ve made along the way. I think the 30s is where you really start to see the divergence in people’s lives. In the 20s some people got married and some even had a kid. I think it’s the 30s where you really start to see the spread in life experiences. There’re single folk like me, people who are just getting married, people on their first kid, people on their 2nd(!) kid. It’s amazing to look around at my friends and see where they are in their lives. Some people end up where you think they’d end up and as always time has a way of changing people so there are some people that surprise you. I feel lucky to share their joys and sorrows, if at least vicariously.
I think for me 30s was the point when I realized that experiences and relationships are what I want to build up. Last year I was able to experience and do a bunch of amazing things like The Relay and Tough Mudder. These are things I don’t think I would have ever imagined myself doing in the past, but with the right people I was able to take advantage of the opportunities. I recently ran a 10k with some other coworkers and the interesting thing was the stronger runners were in the 30s category for this race. We also noticed 30s is the age when marathoning and triathloning seems to become much more popular. If anything I’m probably healthier now than I was in my 20s.
So all in all I guess my conclusion is I’m looking forward to the new experiences and people that lie in my future! Bring on the rest of the 30s! 40s….you can stay over there =)