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This time next week I will be staring thirty in the face.
I turn thirty years old next Wednesday. Up until recently, I was “going under” (to use my northern husband’s expression) about this fact. I was going under about not being in my twenties any more. I was going under about being old. I was going under about not having achieved things that I thought I should achieve by the age of thirty.
But, most of all, I was going under about the idea of thirty itself.
When you’re thirty you can no longer pretend an air of youth by saying “I’m in my twenties”. Thirty sounds grown-up. Sensible. Not me.
The thing is, I still like shopping in Topshop. I still like to blare loud dance music out of my stereo when I’m in the car on my own. I still get excited about nights out dancing. I still read Heat Magazine. These are all things I have always associated with being firmly in the “twenties camp”.
But then I was walking down the road yesterday and I realised that, just because I am turning thirty, it doesn’t mean I have to stop doing these things. There is no rule that says you have to exclusively wear Boden when you turn thirty. I don’t have to ditch my hi-tops for sensible courts.
The truth is, when this realisation hit me I was actually musing on what I was going to cook for tea that night. I walked in the door and pinned a picture drawn by my three year old onto the fridge. I wandered through the living room, clearing up a dirty mug and a Peppa Pig toy, before plonking myself at my desk and getting on with some work. Those five minutes wouldn’t have happened ten years ago.
My life is full, rich. I am content, confident in what I like and who I am. When I was twenty I still wasn’t sure about any of these things, really. I knew I liked retro Take That and shots of Sambuca, but I had yet to discover the joy of a freezing cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc. I loved lie-ins and the Hollyoaks omnibus, but I didn’t yet know the simple pleasure of a steaming hot cup of Earl Grey in a sunny garden before the rest of the house was awake.
As I’ve gone through my twenties I’ve discovered new things and new places, new people and new loves (not just Earl Grey and Sauvignon Blanc). You know what? I think thirty will be OK.
I’m 30 next year and it is scaring me a bit as it was always the age I imagined myself to be a ‘proper adult’, but I just don’t feel like one yet and don’t think I will be next July either. I spoke to my dad about it a while ago and he said you don’t ever feel any different, you just age an gain more knowledge about things so I guess it’s totally appropriate to carry on doing everything we like for as long as we like. I have even been known to stamp my feet sometimes when I don’t get my own way, only very occasionally though
It’s true what you said though and when I take a step back and look at me now consider to ten years ago, I am a grown up, well most of the time anyway! x
Your dad sounds very wise to me. If I feel any different in a week I’ll let you know! x
30 is amazing!! But you are definitely as young as you feel and you should not be defined by the number of years you have been on this planet.
Hi tops, Heat and Topshop all rock. Boden can wait a few years yet
If you say it then it must be so! x
hello! excuse me the under 30s do not have exclusive rights to Topshop and Heat Magazine, speaking as someone other than 30 – can I just say the 20′s are over-rated.
This pleases me. You are proof it just gets better! x
I do strongly believe that the late 20′s – early 30′s brings a sense of calm and without meaning to sound too airy-fairy, wisdom.
Remember , 50 is the new 40… which means 40 is the new 30 , so technically you are about to begin the 20′s all over again
Ooh I do rather like that way of thinking of things. And it’s true, I wouldn’t want to go back to being 20 again. Been there, done that. Ready for 30 now!
I went into a tail spin last autumn with the approach of the big 40, was really really very unhappy about it, and then when it happened it was such a non event. I still feel 28 inside.
And that’s the important thing isn’t it – how you feel in yourself rather than the number? That’s what I think anyway. I think the hype of a “milestone birthday” often doesn’t help!
Turning 30 for me was a breeze – it was 31 I had a problem with (no-one told me that was going to happen! I felt like Joey from Friends). In all seriousness though, I’ve much preferred being in my 30′s to my 20′s. I do feel much calmer, happier and less inclined to drink till I’m sick and dance on tables till 3am on a school night
The odd late-night dancing is good for the soul I think – although I’m more prone to make these occasions annual events rather than every weekend! x
My God you’re nearly 30 so what does that make me? Nearly 60! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Joke. You are as old as you feel and most days I feel very young. By the way I hope F has a better birthday present for you than the one you gave me. A sleepless night! Love ma x
I feel sorry for you having to wade through your 30s to reach the Second Flowering that is the 40s!
Ha – knew I could count on you to perk me up!
As someone who has recently turned 40, I can tell you that it just gets better.
I actually had more of a meltdown over turning 30 than I did about being 40. I thought it sounded sooooo old. Of course, I know now that it is not. My thirties were FAB. But the best is yet to come my lovely x
That has me smiling – thank you! x
L went through a *little* crisis thing over 30, probably because it was also the year he was becoming a father. But as far as I can tell, 30s haven’t brought a massive change in maturity (don’t tell him I said that!).
Ha – I noticed the same thing with the NLM!