Midnight Mind Puzzles: What’s so scary about turning 30 anyway?
Midnight thoughts on those terrible twenties while anticipating life’s better decade.
At night, as the world is silent, sound asleep, and incredibly peaceful, I get up and spare some soulful moments in the coziness of my living room. I reflect on what has happened throughout the day, I think about the meaning of life, love, death, relationships, and goals.
Well, of course, occasionally I stumble upon a slipper, roll over, hit the coffee table, and spill my glass of water while trying to remember how to adult. But that’s another story.
In the last year, more often than not, my girlfriends and I discussed the age topic quite vigorously. During our occasional weekend coffee meetings I could see the sheer horror in their eyes — oh, sh*t, we are all gonna turn 30 next year!
“So what?”, I’m thinking.
I get where this unsettling feeling is coming from — our grandmothers and mothers were married with kids by the age of 25
But, hey, that’s what’s beautiful when it comes to change in lifestyle and society’s ways of adulting. Sure, 50 years ago perhaps it was expected for people to set up a household and family by the time they turn 30. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But here’s the silver lining of the new times — there’s nothing wrong about being a late-bloomer too.
Nowadays people, more than ever, have the chance to explore the world, gather new knowledge, travel, make new acquaintances, fall in and out of love, do good and mess up, search for what makes them truly happy in life. Let’s say we can have our twenties for that. Well then, this means that our thirties and forties would be as closest to smooth sailing as it gets.
See, if I have to choose, I would never get back to the beginning of my twenties — I remember all those confusing years when I wasn’t completely sure about pretty much anything. Of course, the path is equally as important as the main goal, if not more. But why would anyone cling so hard to a decade where we weren’t quite sure what we like and who we are?
Let’s have a drink for all the wrong styling decisions, all the failed romances, all the stupid professional pathways, all the times we were broke, all the times we had our hearts broken, all the times we broke some hearts too. We got our lessons, we gathered our experiences, we should be wiser now, freer, and more resistant to stupid people drama. By now we should know better what truly makes us happy, whole, and complete.
So we can enjoy our thirties and anticipate all the future life adventures
I’m a firm believer in the idea that every decade has something spectacular and quite important to offer. To me, the idea of the thirties is to establish yourself out there. What’s not to like about that?
At 30, you have your personal style. Hopefully, you have a place of your own. Perhaps you met the one after bunch of failed relationship crashes. Or not — maybe your person is quietly waiting in your forties. Or maybe you are just as happy by yourself as you would be in a couple.
At 30, you have enough working experience to actually know what makes your brain click. You have the right attitude towards guarding your mental health and establishing your own personal space and time. Heck, you travel and try coconut milk. Perhaps you feel ready to become a parent, perhaps you have the wisdom to decide if you ever want to be one. At 30, you realize the importance of taking care of yourself since a night out doesn’t feel as good as it did in your twenties the morning after. You cut caffeine, you indulge in yoga, you start to visit the gym, you begin to pay attention to what kind of food ends up on your plate. You get closer to inner peace, that holy grail of happiness in life.
So, as I am about to go back to bed with all these chaotic thoughts in my head, I conclude that there’s absolutely nothing wrong with turning 30. In fact, it could be quite exciting. What’s scary really is not to anticipate anything at all. Then, my friend, you are dead inside, regardless of your 23-years-old body. Boo!
