Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Farewell

We had a good run, but now our time has come to a close. I wasted half the time with youthful indiscretion and poor choices; I spent the second half (after my life drastically changed) too busy to enjoy what remained--which is my greatest regret.  I’m now reflecting on what was and what could’ve been. These 10 years have come and gone in what at times seems as a flash; other times it seems they would never end. But end they have. There was no stopping it—no matter how I tried. Farewell 20’s; I hardly knew ye.
What happens the next 10? "When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things." (1 Corinthians 13:11)
I’m entering this stage with a much different frame of mind. I’m different now. I’m older. I’m wiser. Happier. More fulfilled. I set goals and follow them. I think I’m almost grown.

We've all heard that 'age is just a number.' But that's not true. Right or wrong people associate age with a stage in life. What have you (or haven't you) accomplished? But these associations can vary a great deal. To a toddler it seems anyone older/taller is a 'big kid' and gray hair equals grandparents with a couple of different stages in between. I'm pretty sure if I told my son that I'm 10 years old he'd believe me.
But I'm not 10. I'm at the brink of adulthood. T
here are expectations and assumptions with 30--like you've graduated high school and probably college, you don't work fast food or live with your parents, you can drive a car (a car that you own even). When you're a teenager 30 seems so old, when you're 20 30 seems so far away. I fully expect to tell future 30 year olds (when I'm more mature) 'you have your whole life ahead of you; you're so young...' and all the other familiar phrases I've heard from my mother and her peers. But truthfully I don't feel so young. I've been reflecting on my life and what I have to show for the past 3 decades and what I hope to accomplish in the next 3. (there's a lot).
 
In 10 years when I'm writing my 30's farewell I hope to be wiser still. I feel like there are still so many 'grown-up' milestones I have yet to achieve: marriage, home ownership, a real career. But one thing I will do in my 30's that I did not do in my 20's and teens: I will enjoy the moment. I will not take this stage in life for granted. I'm so glad to not be in high school right now; I'm equally thrilled to know that there is still so much ahead of me; so much more to look forward to and accomplish. I will appreciate, and love and sing with intensity.
I'm 30 dang it. It is what it is.

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