Today is my birthday.
The big 30!
When I was a kid, 30 seemed so old. I still remember when my mum turned 30. She wore a green top around the house that said ‘30-something.’ I asked her what being 30 felt like and she said ‘It’s all downhill from here.’
Even back then, turning 30 was a big deal. You were expected to be happily married with a family. To own a nice house with a big backyard so your kids can eat dirt and the family pet can run around. And, a large driveway to fit your car with leather seats and tinted windows.
You had to accept your body wouldn’t feel like it used to – you’d have stretch marks in weird places, crow’s feet starting to form, and wobbly bits. Also, you’d have to forget about late night parties with girlfriends, spontaneous trips to far away places and eating 3-day old pizza for dinner.
Welcome to the 30-something club.
Now’s not really that much different. We are still expected to have achieved a certain amount of life goals and then made to feel shit if we haven’t. People still tell us how we are supposed to look and how we are supposed to behave. We are still made to believe that being an adult means giving up on our dreams and accepting the cards we’ve been dealt.
I say to hell with that.
I’m not going to be made to feel shit on my 30th birthday.
That’s why I’ve made a list of 30 fun, non-conventional and inspirational things I want to achieve in my 30s.
Here they are in no particular order.
- Cook a restaurant worthy three-course meal
- Be the headline speaker at a conference
- Buy a round-the-world plane ticket
- Learn a language, or two
- Live in Asia for a year
- Learn to braid my hair
- Write a memoir
- Be a staff writer for a TV show
- Run a sell-out writing course
- Own a bonsai tree
- Build a floor-to-roof library in my home
- Have a nap every day
- Learn to paint
- Make dumplings from scratch
- Go storm chasing
- Learn Thai kickboxing
- Be an extra on a movie
- Publish a book of poems
- Meet Wilbur Smith
- Be published in National Geographic
- Brew my own beer
- Go on a political tour
- Fly First Class
- Learn to drive (again)
- Get a make-over from a professional stylist and makeup artist
- Go to a costume party dressed as Sarah O’Connor from Terminator 2
- Watch a basketball game live
- Spend time with my family in Poland
- Go sailing
- Be an advocate for homelessness, addiction and mental health
What random things do you want to achieve in your 30s?
Featured image from Pexels.
