Happy Monday! Today is my first day in my thirties :)
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As someone who wore Talbots sweater sets in middle school and was one of the earliest, and likely youngest, subscribers to Oprah, I’ve always been an old soul. In fact, 30 feels quite young. This whole new decade isn’t necessarily scary, but it is significant. I’ve found myself thinking about lessons I started to learn in my 20s that I hope I’ll remember and keep learning into my 30s and beyond. Here’s a few things that make more sense to me now than they did a decade ago:
Give up on bad books
Can’t begin to think how many months I’ve wasted, trying to muddle through a book because I hated the thought of giving up. A few years ago, thanks to rekindling my love of the library, I gave myself permission to give up on books I just wasn’t that into. This is such a minor thing, but I read so much more now that I freely move on from lousy books.
Trust that everyone is doing the best they can
It’s really easy to get get disappointed and frustrated by people-in real life, in politics, the world. I’ve relaxed a lot more in recent years by reminding myself that at every moment, most people are just trying to get through the day, doing the best they can at that moment. I guess it’s a bit optimistic, but sometimes that rose-colored glasses thing really works!
Keep valuing experiences over things
I know, this is so obvious now, but I didn’t really get it until my twenties. David and I are both extremely uncool, our apartment is tiny, and our clothes are simple. However, in our twenties, we’ve been lucky enough to travel and enjoyed incredible experiences. In the future, particularly if we’re fortunate enough to have kids, we’ll face serious guilt over things we’ll need to buy, a bigger home, etc. There’ll be merit to some of that, but in general, I hope we’ll maintain our current priorities well into the future.
Be satisfied, but keep growing
So much of the last decade was about jumping from one moment to another: graduate college, get into law school, get a job, pass the bar, stop commuting, move to California. Some of these (looking at you, California bar) I’m still working on. I noticed it’s easy to fall into the mindset of always looking for the next thing (i.e. ughh-if only I didn’t have this commute from Baltimore to DC-life would be just right). On the other hand, if there’s not something to strive for, no new challenge, I fall into a rut, and start to tune out curiosity and creativity. Not really sure what the solution is, but it’s taken years to realize these two conflicting, and yet equally harmful, mentalities. Hoping that being aware of the delicate balance of remaining satisfied yet seeking new challenges will help keep things in check in the future.
Nothing beats dinner at home, with family and friends
Nothing novel here, but just want to remember that at this stage in life, there’s nothing better than dinner at home with family or friends. Maybe it’s because our first special Thanksgivings together, I often think of cooking, gathering and being at home, when I think of my relationship with David. Or maybe it’s because I’m just a total homebody, and finally discovered a word that sums up my favorite sentiment. Either way, no matter what’s going on, it’s beyond comforting being home (and really-anyone’s home-mine, family, friends), with special people, good wine :), and food.
Just a few random thoughts to close out the first day of 30 :)
