Not too bad... considering I am now 31. (insert moan here!) I know I am not "old" but still the whole "in my 30's" tends not to help one feel like a spring chicken anymore.
Sometime around April, I was taking a nice spring evening run when I was reminded of my birthday. I was turning 31 in June and all I could think was: "How in the hell did that happen?!?!?"
Turning 31 just appeared out of no where, and it hit fast. I am usually not one to dwell on age, well... I guess I didn't, until it mattered (meaning, I turned 29). When most people begin to dwell on their age, two things usually happen.
1- They accept their age, do nothing about it and accept their circumstances (and wallow in self pity about how old they are).
2- They do not accept their age as they live in denial and they go through a mid life crisis; which the likely results are ending up with some new model of a partner, car or boobs.
Me?
As much as I want the new boobs, I picked door #3.
3- you don't think about your age and you let life happen to you.
Okay, that is a half truth. I did think about my age but I let life happen to me. Turning 31 did not fill me full of those cliches, like: Try new things! Visit somewhere new! Be braver! Eat less, exercise more! or my personal favorite (to quote Stanley Tucci from the film Easy A): "Let's Bucket List this Bitch!"
My cliche: I found a renaissance or a renaissance found me.
I am only three and half months into this new year and what I have done, though it's not much, it's still a lot. So, as you approach your next birthday and Option 1 or 2 doesn't sound good, here is what I suggest doing:
#1- Go back to college!
I went back to college. I didn't finish my degree when I went to college right out of high school but I knew that I needed to (one day) go back to school. After a series of bad days, a job offer in Alaska (which I, with dragging feet and tears, had to turn down) and a wedding; I sent in my admission application and once I was accepted, I quit my job. Going back to school, made me feel even older than what I already did but it gave me the advantage. I had years of experience and knowledge to fall back on. My first semester is almost over and I am getting decent grades but the new boobs are going to look even better when I hold up my degree next to them.
#2- Don't act your age
How old is too old?? But then you are never too old. Right?
I went back home to the good old Northwest for (another) wedding and spent time with my best friend Bunny and decided to be spontaneous. Involving an amazing studio called High Priestess (http://www.highpriestess.com/)... where I left with three new piercings.
and the awesome guy who made it all possible.
Apparently, I am doing things backwards. You get the piercings when you are in your twenties and take them out when you are in your thirties but then I think of my aunt who is in her 40's and pierced her nose a couple of years ago.
My renaissance stems from the total melt down I had one month after my birthday. I began to wonder who I was. I had no clue who I was and I felt a massive hole inside of me. I was 31 and having a life crisis. Things I wanted to accomplish, hopes and dreams that I once had where never going to be possible for me. I literally went from taking care of one household to another. I got married at 19 and became a mother two years later. Things you should do when you are in your twenties; go to parties, date lots of boys, be stupid, go skinny dipping, partake of certain substances, backpack through Europe, get a tattoo, find out who you are as an individual, all of those things, I would never have the chance to do.
Turning 31 and having a life crisis doesn't mean I have decided to go off the deep end, live in denial and end up with something I really don't need. Instead I am taking this one day at a time. Taking the time to find out who I am. Doing things that I have always wanted to do but just in a different and better way. I will never have those "20's" chances but that doesn't mean that I don't have a chance. It just means that my chances have changed. Just like going back to school at the age of 31, I have the advantage.
Who said I have to act my age?
After all, age is just a number.
No comments:
Post a Comment