Yep no April fools here… I love my 30s!
I don’t think I even dreaded turning 30. I was too sleep deprived to really analyze or give it much thought (I had a 2 year old and was pregnant with #2). Really in the last year or so I have just really come to embrace loving my age and growing older.
I have been blessed to have women on and off in my life who are older that I look up to and admire. Many of them have been much older and I look at those woman and say that is who I want to be like when I am xx age. I want to be continually growing and striving to be better a person, not just ready to slow down.
I wanted to share a few things I have grown to love about my 30s and think these could apply to any age. Really, these are just things you learn with life experiences not necessarily with age.
Believe me I have a long way to go and most of these areas are an on-going struggle – easier said than done right?
Patience in life situations…
The older we get, the more we realize how quickly the years fly by. My husband is an amazing example of “if it is meant to be it will be”. Almost 13 years of marriage that has rubbed off on me. I find it much easier to just sit back and watch God’s plan unfold instead of trying to get in the middle of it and messing it up. I love to look back and say okay, that is why this did or didn’t happen and see more of the bigger picture.
Perspective…
I try to react less quickly. Often times, if I just sit back whatever the situation works itself out without me getting all worked up. I hope I am less judgmental.??????
Don’t have time for fluff…
I want real relationships. I want to talk about the hard things of life. I don’t have time to sit around and talk about the new colors for spring fashion. I want to know if you are hurting and talk about it. I want to be able to share my struggles with close friends in a real honest way.
More confident & content in who I am…
The transition to being a mom is hard. I never struggled with self confidence or comparing myself to others until I became a mom. As I have grown really to be more thankful as I shared here that started to melt away. I really found comfort in the fact that God made me who I am for a reason. I am not the best house keeper or task oriented person and I realized I can’t compare my inadequacies to my friends strengths. God made me scatter brained for a reason! Now that doesn’t mean I can’t strive be a better person (e.g. more organized) but I will never be a type “A” personality. I tried (for a day) I hated it – it is not the way I am wired. All you type A moms can come organize my cupboards and closets! I would rather be playing legos and building sand castles with my boys. Most days, I wish I were more organized but I don’t get down on myself about it as much anymore.
I even stopped highlighting my hair and I love it. Although I can’t wait for a few sunny days to lighten it up!
Life lessons…
The older I get the more I am able to really grasp and see that everything happens for a reason. The times I have grown the most in my life are the times I have experienced trials or reflected back on the trials after they have passed. I have said before I don’t want any trial I face to be wasted. I know God has allowed those to happen for a reason. I am quicker to respond with what can I learn from this rather than why me. Do I handle every trial with grace and perfectly? No, but what can I learn so I can handle circumstances better next time because there will be a next time. Does is mean that I understand why things happen fully no but what can I learn from them and come out a stronger person with a deeper faith in God.
Really, the older I get, the more I don’t know and see how much I have yet to learn/grow. God is not done with me yet. I feel like I just get done working on one area of my life and something else pops up.
I hope I can say in 10 years this plus 100 more reasons why I love being in my 40s. I have always had this inner desire to be better and grow and I hope it keeps getting stronger the older I get.
What do you love about the age you are? I would love to hear some of your favorite life lessons you have learned as you have experienced life!
Great perspective, Jodi. You have shared some of these thoughts with me before, and I think that is part of what helped prepare me for “gracefully” and excitedly turning 30 last month (http://desmoinesmomsblog.com/a-new-perspective-on-turning-30/). I definitely agree with you that the older I get the less I know; and like you, I want to be always learning and growing–a desire that age and experience definitely fulfills.
On a “lighter” note (haha), I DID, on the day I turned 30, highlight my hair for the first time in 7 years… and I CAN tell you that there are a lot of blues and oranges out for spring…. (hehe) 😉
Blue is good I love blue… you can just fill me in on the spring colors! Honestly when I have my hair short I can’t justify spending all the $$ on highlighting it and then chopping it off! If I grow it back out I might go back to coloring it. Funny the boys hair has gotten so much darker over the winter too we just need out in the sun!
Yes, I feel like my hair just keeps getting darker, too! I was originally going to wait and see what the summer sun would do for it before highlighting it, but I decided my 30th birthday was a good excuse to just go for it! 🙂 I got “peek-a-boo” style highlights, so I hope to not have to redo it too often!
Loved this post as I’m about to enter my thirties in a few months. I think there is a lot to be said for growing older and wiser and I can’t wait to see what my thirties have in store for me!