On turning 30

As I hit this milestone birthday tomorrow, I am astounded by the number of questions I get about how I feel now to have been on the earth for three decades...surpassed only by questions about my pregnancy. To answer: I'm not in a perpetual state of panic or depression or identity crisis about it. Recent conversations I've had have led me to admit this may have to do with certain roles I've already come to fill: wife and mother. There is no ticking clock for me in that regard, removing some of the very real pressure perceived by friends of the same age, yet in different places in life.

I guess I have a measured perspective in that while part of me is sad - and a little shocked - that my twenties are over and I'll never be there again, I have the joy and memory of knowing that they rocked. It's really been an incredible decade for me. And I anticipate that down the road when I turn 40, I'll really wish I was turning thirty! So I might as well enjoy it now.

Thirty, I embrace you.

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Examining myself at this crossroads of sorts, these are some thoughts I've been ruminating about lately, and since you're here, I guess I'll share them with you...

A few truths I've learned in 30 years in my unique, individual place in the world owned by no one else:

• I believe everyone should have their heart truly & utterly broken at least once. Nothing better instills a sincere empathy for heartbreak in others than to emotionally recognize that dark place you yourself have lived through.


• I believe everyone should at some point embrace a huge risk. Not in a hazardous, foolish sense, but in that way that stretches you outside of yourself from the cozy, familiar place where you reside.


• I consider a person very blessed when she can call her friends her "family"...that those relationships she forms and holds close are so vital as to complete her very soul. Equally so when she can call her family her "friends"...that she'd want to hang out with them even if they weren't related to her. I am lucky to have both.


• I've thought for some time that if for just one generation, the only social change was that all who were unmarried simply abstained from sex, we would be shocked by the transformation and restoration that would take place in our world. Think it over for a minute or two.


• I believe a sense of entitlement is one of the worst legacies our generation can leave the next. I also believe this can be best combated by learning how to have a thankful heart. I'm growing to think gratefulness is the key to true joy.

Though not exhaustive, this list I'm sure will grow and evolve over time. After all: "If in the last few years you haven't discarded a major opinion or acquired a new one, check your pulse. You may be dead." - Frank Gelett Burgess