Thoughts on turning 30

It seems that 30 is a turning point for many people. You can panic, deny it, or embrace it. There's no turning back. I suppose it has everything to do with expectations and little to do with an actual number. Truthfully, I haven't put much thought into it and I think that's positive. Sitting down to write this post is the first real thinking I've done and I don't want to over analyze it, like I do with most things. It's just another birthday, nothing to freak out about, right?

I do want to address the idea of expectations, however. At age 30 there seems to be things people, especially women, should have accomplished. Marriage, a career, perhaps children, come to mind. There are also all kinds of modern ideas about what people should have done in their twenties before "settling down." That's all well and good, but I've never felt an intense need to prove that I'm completely living it up as a single person in order to justify the lack of a family, impressive career, and so on. Yes, I will admit that there are things I wish would have happened by this time, but that does not mean that turning 30 marks the end of a marriageable era.

So obviously, 30 is only a mental hurdle. I've actually been using it as a way to dissuade younger men from being interested in me. As in, high school age boys that I drive on the bus. All I have to say is "I'm thirty" and they get a scared look on their faces. I get a kick out of that. As an LDS young single adult, it might also get me the same looks from guys I meet, but I know that guys who have that reaction aren't ones I should be interested in.

I'm going to approach 30 with enthusiasm. I think I've come up with a theme based around a song that always puts a smile on my face. Even the lyrics put me in a positive mood:

I get up, and nothin' gets me down
You got it tough, I've seen the toughest around
And I know, baby, just how you feel
You got to roll with the punches and get to what's real...

One final note, I have a tradition of getting a sexy pair of birthday heels. This year's pick:

Don't be concerned. I will not be dancing to any Van Halen in these shoes.