What The Hell Does It Mean To Be 30?
This year some very special people in my life turned 30. And naturally, there was much discussion surrounding this supposedly significant event. In regards to one person in particular, someone casually mentioned, “He doesn’t seem 30.”
What does that really even mean?
What is 30 supposed to “seem like?” There is no magic checklist for turning 30. You don’t grow an extra body part to mark the change. You don’t feel differently the moment the clock strikes midnight. 30 is just an age. Another year.
If you lined up one hundred 30-year-old men and women, I guarantee all of them are in different stages of their lives. Some are married, some married with children, others are divorced or still looking for that special someone. There are 30-year-old interns, CEOs and stay at home moms. Some 30-year-olds are homeowners, where others still live with their parents. But they’re all 30. And you know what that means? 30 doesn’t mean sh*t.
Acting your age is a sentiment that I always found impossible. Our spirit doesn’t have an age. My 83-year-old grandmother still laughs and giggles with childlike wonder at jokes our family tells. There is no such thing as acting your age, because age is not something you act like. It’s something you use to quantify your years on the earth. It doesn’t quantify your experiences.
Ages are not milestones. Milestones are milestones. You are what you have experienced. Not how long you’ve been around.
So the next time you feel like you should be further along “at your age” or you should be married, have your dream job, etc “at your age”, remember that everyone in life is exactly where they are supposed to be.
Having your dream job at 40 doesn’t make it less of a dream job, does it?