Monday, May 01, 2006
Remember when 30 was old?
Monday, May 01, 2006 | Original Musings by
Jen |
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originally posted on myspace.com on May 1, 2006
Here I am a 2.5 months into the "last of my 20s". Yes, on Feb 24th of next year, I will start a new decade in my life. So, I've spent some time lamenting all the things on my to-do list that I didn't get done by time I'm 30 (or will not have time to get done). Poor Johee, I think I was quite sour on the ski trip on my birthday weekend b/c I couldn't get past all the things I hadn't done.
I could list all the things here, but I'm sure you have your own list and know what I'm talking about....
So I spent the month following my b'day pondering all those things and basically feeling sorry for myself.... then I snapped out of it and realized I love my life. Sure, I haven't checked off all the boxes yet, but some bumps and detours in life happen (actually those bumps in the road ARE life). In my case, my biggest detour was Abigail, and I have to say most of what I listed above did not get accomplished because of her. Am I bitter? HECK NO! Having her was the best thing to happen to my life. I asked myself, why can't the daily flexibility that I am required to exercise with her be applied to my own life and goals? Of course it can.
So, that is the first thing about 30 closely approaching that went through my mind and realized I spent WAY too much energy on that lamentation.
The next thing that occured to me is that 30 seemed so old..... as a kid I always considered anyone in their 30s to be very, very old......
Yes, 30 seemed so OLD..... yet, here I am closely approaching 30 and still enjoy vegging out in front of the xbox once in awhile and playing video games. I still watch cartoons. It used to be transformers and looney toons - but it was just replaced by Family Guy and Adult Swim. I notice it most when I end up behind a group of giggling moronic prebuscent teenagers while in line at the local Starbucks. I used to be one of them and I remember it like it was yesterday. Yes I still giggle, but not like I did back then which I suppose is as it should be. Once in awhile, I still have trouble focusing in church even... that's ok when you are 7 or 14, but 29???
I thought when you were "old" you knew so much (like when I was one of those giggling girls). I don't know what Aardvarks eat when my daughter asks and I don't know why slugs are slimey. Thank goodness for Google. I also can't always answer her questions to life.... I wish I could, I have a few of my own that need to be answered.
30 is also when athletes are considered "old." The best athletes in the world are revered as heros if they compete past 30. Well, I'm not an athlete. Being that I am in no where near the shape an athlete is...what does that make me?
:::: long pause ::::
I'm sorry...I forgot what I was saying. (that's not related to old age, is it?)
I will no longer be a woman in my late 20s, but a woman in my 30s. I have always looked to woman in their 30s as wise and so put together. It seemed to me, that women just know what they are doing by that point. Maybe this is why I am hesitant to turn 30. I so do not know what I am doing (do you think I'm fooling my daughter?).
The ride has been fun and if I would have achieved all those things on my checklist, would my life have been over or would a new list have evolved? I want to grow as an individual. I feel it is just as important for me to grow as it is to help my daughter grow
Mark Twain once quipped, Age is a matter of mind; if you dont mind, it doesnt matter.
It's taken a little bit or reflection and time, but I'm starting not to mind..... (but check back with me next Feb....)
Here I am a 2.5 months into the "last of my 20s". Yes, on Feb 24th of next year, I will start a new decade in my life. So, I've spent some time lamenting all the things on my to-do list that I didn't get done by time I'm 30 (or will not have time to get done). Poor Johee, I think I was quite sour on the ski trip on my birthday weekend b/c I couldn't get past all the things I hadn't done.
I could list all the things here, but I'm sure you have your own list and know what I'm talking about....
So I spent the month following my b'day pondering all those things and basically feeling sorry for myself.... then I snapped out of it and realized I love my life. Sure, I haven't checked off all the boxes yet, but some bumps and detours in life happen (actually those bumps in the road ARE life). In my case, my biggest detour was Abigail, and I have to say most of what I listed above did not get accomplished because of her. Am I bitter? HECK NO! Having her was the best thing to happen to my life. I asked myself, why can't the daily flexibility that I am required to exercise with her be applied to my own life and goals? Of course it can.
So, that is the first thing about 30 closely approaching that went through my mind and realized I spent WAY too much energy on that lamentation.
The next thing that occured to me is that 30 seemed so old..... as a kid I always considered anyone in their 30s to be very, very old......
Yes, 30 seemed so OLD..... yet, here I am closely approaching 30 and still enjoy vegging out in front of the xbox once in awhile and playing video games. I still watch cartoons. It used to be transformers and looney toons - but it was just replaced by Family Guy and Adult Swim. I notice it most when I end up behind a group of giggling moronic prebuscent teenagers while in line at the local Starbucks. I used to be one of them and I remember it like it was yesterday. Yes I still giggle, but not like I did back then which I suppose is as it should be. Once in awhile, I still have trouble focusing in church even... that's ok when you are 7 or 14, but 29???
I thought when you were "old" you knew so much (like when I was one of those giggling girls). I don't know what Aardvarks eat when my daughter asks and I don't know why slugs are slimey. Thank goodness for Google. I also can't always answer her questions to life.... I wish I could, I have a few of my own that need to be answered.
30 is also when athletes are considered "old." The best athletes in the world are revered as heros if they compete past 30. Well, I'm not an athlete. Being that I am in no where near the shape an athlete is...what does that make me?
:::: long pause ::::
I'm sorry...I forgot what I was saying. (that's not related to old age, is it?)
I will no longer be a woman in my late 20s, but a woman in my 30s. I have always looked to woman in their 30s as wise and so put together. It seemed to me, that women just know what they are doing by that point. Maybe this is why I am hesitant to turn 30. I so do not know what I am doing (do you think I'm fooling my daughter?).
The ride has been fun and if I would have achieved all those things on my checklist, would my life have been over or would a new list have evolved? I want to grow as an individual. I feel it is just as important for me to grow as it is to help my daughter grow
Mark Twain once quipped, Age is a matter of mind; if you dont mind, it doesnt matter.
It's taken a little bit or reflection and time, but I'm starting not to mind..... (but check back with me next Feb....)
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“Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, an hour, a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it last forever.” ~~~Lance Armstrong
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~~~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain----and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." ~~~Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Famer. (Will-Weber's "Voices From the Midpack" chapter.)
The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.~~~Denis Watley
Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. ~~~Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." ~~~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I like running because it's a challenge. If you run hard, there's the pain----and you've got to work your way through the pain. You know, lately it seems all you hear is 'Don't overdo it' and 'Don't push yourself.' Well, I think that's a lot of bull. If you push the human body, it will respond." ~~~Bob Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers general manager, NHL Hall of Famer. (Will-Weber's "Voices From the Midpack" chapter.)
The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.~~~Denis Watley
Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly. ~~~Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)
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