Aging gracefully: Turning 30.

[Rubia Warren]

Okay so you all know I turned 30 in May. It has been the hardest age ever for me, for some reason. This whole year has been revolving around me turning 30. I thought I'd start a thread to see how others dealt with turning 30, or just coming to the realization that you are getting older now (doesn't have to be the number 30).
It was really weird, I didn't think about it much til Jan. of this year, and I spent the 1st 6 months of this year kinda having a mini-crisis about it. Looking at my whole life until now, seeing so much wasted, lamenting that I will now be 30, trying to white-knuckle the past, thinking everything after that is just down hill and crying like crazy.
Now I am spending the last half of the year more accepting of it, that my youth is gone. I am beginning to kinda see a whole other journey in life that I didn't notice was available before: growing older gracefully, and enjoying and making the best of each age, and still being cool.
I think it started when I started going back to school in June, that just kind of gave me hope that not all is lost, and gave me better career goals, kinda opened up a whole area of plans for the future that I had previously thought were out of my reach.
Now that has carried over into all areas of my life, I am beginning to change a lot for the better, I am getting a lot more health conscious, little by little being more responsible with what I do have, or at least wanting to relearn habits that are bad and irresponsible (like with money), I am actually making realistic goals for the future, and making realistic plans as to how to attain those goals. It is weird. r00bz is like, growing up and stuff.
My outlook on life since I accpted that I am now 30 and my foolish youth is gone (and believe me, my youth was pretty darn foolish ), I dunno, I am like changing in so many ways.
What was turning 30 like for you?

[Xmansmommy]

For me it was just like any other day or year. I suppose for me I've never really placed too much stock in my age or the aging process. I have grown and matured a great deal in my soon to be 36 years of life. I've enjoyed some of it and I regret some of it. But all in all, my mind isn't an issue with getting old. (Since you're only as old as you think you are ) It's the reality of the aches and pains of a physically aging body that truly stinks.

[Middle Aged C]

30 was no real big deal for me.......................... now 29, that was the crisis! however, i was young and very stupid then.

Now, I'm glad for every age I am. I'm glad for every gray hair, every wrinkle, every ache and pain, every year that my kids get older and enter new stages........... Everyone ages. The key is, knowing and appreciating every stage and not getting bogged down in the "what ifs". Think about it, who would WANT to be 20something again!? Certainly not me. I'm thankful everyday that if we want and if we're willing, God will provide us with more and more wisdom. Growing older, growing wiser, growing closer to God......... now that is a WONDERFUL process!

C

[NSMinistries]

I went to work and then went home for bed... 30 was nothing really. Now 35 or 40 might be different...

[Gabby]

31 was a bit difficult for me. From that point on it's been a breeze. However there's another biggie looming close, so we'll see how that goes...

chris

[RumTumTugger]

I actually started thinking about turning 30 when I was 28 or so with 2 years to go. at age 28 I took a look at myself and where I was and the thought kept running in my head "I'll be 30 in 2 years and what will I have to show for it in my life." I was in a dead end job at the time been married just a couple of years no children(I still dont' have any and am becomming resigned to being childless) it got so bad that when I did turn 30 a couple of friends of my Husband and mine got me a T-Shirt that said "I'm 30 years old and entering the Twilight Zone Years" it really put it in to persective for me.

So when I turned 40 not to many years ago I had a different feeling. I decided to celebrate in a big way and not worry about it.

Hope this helps.

[yxboom]

Okay so you all know I turned 30 in May. It has been the hardest age ever for me, for some reason. This whole year has been revolving around me turning 30. I thought I'd start a thread to see how others dealt with turning 30, or just coming to the realization that you are getting older now (doesn't have to be the number 30).
It was really weird, I didn't think about it much til Jan. of this year, and I spent the 1st 6 months of this year kinda having a mini-crisis about it. Looking at my whole life until now, seeing so much wasted, lamenting that I will now be 30, trying to white-knuckle the past, thinking everything after that is just down hill and crying like crazy.
Now I am spending the last half of the year more accepting of it, that my youth is gone. I am beginning to kinda see a whole other journey in life that I didn't notice was available before: growing older gracefully, and enjoying and making the best of each age, and still being cool.
I think it started when I started going back to school in June, that just kind of gave me hope that not all is lost, and gave me better career goals, kinda opened up a whole area of plans for the future that I had previously thought were out of my reach.
Now that has carried over into all areas of my life, I am beginning to change a lot for the better, I am getting a lot more health conscious, little by little being more responsible with what I do have, or at least wanting to relearn habits that are bad and irresponsible (like with money), I am actually making realistic goals for the future, and making realistic plans as to how to attain those goals. It is weird. r00bz is like, growing up and stuff.
My outlook on life since I accpted that I am now 30 and my foolish youth is gone (and believe me, my youth was pretty darn foolish ), I dunno, I am like changing in so many ways.
What was turning 30 like for you?

I dunno but if and when i turn 30 maybe Ill let you know.

[themuzicman]

It was another day on the calendar. I'm 37, and I'm still young.

What do you mean your youth is gone? You have at least 8 or 9 child bearing years left!

Michael

[rmwilliamsjr]

Odd, 30 was no big deal for me. My wife had our last kid that year.
it was 45 before i started having many of the ideas you express here.

The kids leaving home was important for that. For it gave me more freedom and time to think and read.

[Radical1]

30 was just another day for me. I don't worry or celebrate my birthdays. I really find it sad when people dwell on or expect some special deal for being one step closer to dying. Now with the big 40 looming just a few months off I find it even less of a concern. I think with the right outlook and by taking care of yourself there is no reason why life should not be great.

My wife is 37 and is more beautiful, confidant and sexy then she was when I married at 23 yrs old. She worries about a few gray hairs but other then that she feels pretty much the same.

[elysian]

R00bz-

Hindsight's 20/20! For about 2 years- from the time I was 28 until I was 30 I had several serious health crises. I was having such severe arthritis flare ups that I could barely move my hands or use my fingers. I had severely dislocated my right knee when I was in high school and it had finally gotten to the point in which I had to wear a brace to keep it straight because if I bent it and tried to bend it back it would "catch" and my leg would buckle underneath me. Twelve years after the original injury I finally had the surgery to repair it- and went back to work the next day. I was 29. Then it seemed no matter what medications my doctor tried my blood pressure simply could not be controlled. I was having panic attacks as a side effect of one medication, and I had burst blood vessels in my right eye - where the white part of your eye turns blood red-(due to high blood pressure, this is sometimes a precursor to stroke) three times in one year.

I was also working a job in which a typical week would find me there at least sixty hours and often more. I was the service director for the local Infiniti dealership and had worked in similar jobs with loads of stress, long hours and heavy responsibilities for several years. I wasn't taking care of my physical health in any way- I drank, I smoked, I had horrible nutrition and didn't get proper exercise. I wasn't taking care of my spiritual or emotional health either as I had left my church when I got divorced and had been very cynical and angry toward God. In other words, I was living fast and well on the path to dying young.

Shortly after my 30th birthday I'd gone back to my doctor as I'd blown a blood vessel in my eyeball again. He flat out told me I had to radically change my lifestyle, or given my personal and family histories, I wouldn't live to see age 35. He said that statistically a person's risk of stroke is three times higher after age 30 and that I had a boatload of risk factors to begin with. The first thing he said that had to go was that I needed to find a less stressful job- and I needed to stop drinking and smoking, and I needed to start paying attention to nutrition and exercise.

I thank God for the wake-up call. It seems almost immediately I was offered a better job and going from 60+ hours a week to 40-45 hours with more money and less stress really helped. Then by God's grace He put it on my heart that I needed to go back to a church, to be active in a Christian community again- and He even landed me in the church I needed to be a part of, a church where I could experience His healing and His love and where I would also be challenged to "go out and make disciples for Christ." God has set me free from the bondages of binge drinking and smoking, and He has also led me to be a better steward of my own body- in tending to nutrition, exercise and rest.

I turned 35 in February. By God's grace I'm still here, for as long as He needs me to be. Thankfully my blood pressure has remained controlled (with medication) for almost three years. I have remained free from binge drinking for four years and I have remained free from smoking for two years- not by my power but by God's power, to His glory. I thank Him for delivering me from that mindset and lifestyle, and I am so thankful that He is teaching me to find joy in living for Him.

[Cello]

Okay so you all know I turned 30 in May. It has been the hardest age ever for me, for some reason. This whole year has been revolving around me turning 30. I thought I'd start a thread to see how others dealt with turning 30, or just coming to the realization that you are getting older now (doesn't have to be the number 30).
It was really weird, I didn't think about it much til Jan. of this year, and I spent the 1st 6 months of this year kinda having a mini-crisis about it. Looking at my whole life until now, seeing so much wasted, lamenting that I will now be 30, trying to white-knuckle the past, thinking everything after that is just down hill and crying like crazy.
Now I am spending the last half of the year more accepting of it, that my youth is gone. I am beginning to kinda see a whole other journey in life that I didn't notice was available before: growing older gracefully, and enjoying and making the best of each age, and still being cool.
I think it started when I started going back to school in June, that just kind of gave me hope that not all is lost, and gave me better career goals, kinda opened up a whole area of plans for the future that I had previously thought were out of my reach.
Now that has carried over into all areas of my life, I am beginning to change a lot for the better, I am getting a lot more health conscious, little by little being more responsible with what I do have, or at least wanting to relearn habits that are bad and irresponsible (like with money), I am actually making realistic goals for the future, and making realistic plans as to how to attain those goals. It is weird. r00bz is like, growing up and stuff.
My outlook on life since I accpted that I am now 30 and my foolish youth is gone (and believe me, my youth was pretty darn foolish ), I dunno, I am like changing in so many ways.
What was turning 30 like for you?

30 was no big deal to me - none at all. Any other day. AND I have always been the kind to consider age irreleant in one regard -- its just a fact and no big deal. No age will bother me.

Uhhhh, yeah right. I am turning 37 this year - and thats ok, but 40 is looming just beyond the horizon and THAT is bothering me a bit for some reason...which is just plain weird. I just keep thinking 40. 4.0 only 10 years to 50 and wow.....thats depressing.....LOL.

I'm not sure what it is except that there is a lot I want to do and I haven't done it yet and don't see it happening any time soon --- so in some sense I guess I feel time is running out and/or maybe that I am going to be all alone. I am single raising two kids and I think when they are gone...hmmm, I'll be 'old' and well, I tell myself that's MY time to go do the things God has waiting for me.......

U dunno. 40 just bothers me for some reason.

[Esther]

When I was 28 I started feeling like my days were numbered. During my childhood, I had somehow come to associate age alone with personal growth and accomplishment. You know, "You can't do that until you get older." I thought one automatically became less shy, more intelligent, better able to cope with the stuff of life, etc. Somehow that carried over into adulthood and I saw 30 as my deadline to have my act together, to be a certain way, to basically have a handle on my life. My 29th year was really hard. I felt like it was my last chance to do something with my life that mattered. Isn't it funny how a parent can think such a thing, as though the act of parenting doesn't count for anything?

I do feel kinda bad about getting older simply because I don't like change but I don't sweat it much anymore. It doesn't do any good. 30 came and went and I didn't fall apart as I had expected to (not then anyway). We'll see what 40 holds.

I'm totally depressed to discover my increased risk of stroke though. Thanks a lot, El!

[rmwilliamsjr]

only 10 years to 50 and wow.....thats depressing.....LOL.

hey hey, none of that,
i'm 51 in 2 weeks and still don't know what i want to be when i grow up!!!


besides the time just sneeks by, you really don't appreciate how fast the sand is really slipping through your fingers.

----

[elysian]

I'm totally depressed to discover my increased risk of stroke though. Thanks a lot, El!

It's really only significant if you have a strong family history and other risk factors. For instance 4 out of 5 of my grandmother's brothers died of stroke between the ages of 30 and 35. My grandmother on the other hand, God willing will be 88 in October. My other grandmother died of a massive stroke at age 74. Neither of my grandmothers partied down like I did at one time though. No one in my family was diagnosed with hypertension until they were at least 40- I've been on meds to try to control it since I was 26.

So if you don't have a really bizarre family history or lots of risk factors for stroke, it's not that that strong of a risk at age 30.