I turned 30 a couple of weeks ago and it’s left me with a strange mix of emotions: existential dread, pining for the days when I was “young”, and a weird feeling of calm. It’s always been this number of frightening size, this self-imposed deadline constantly looming in the future, but like almost everything else in life that one dreads, it’s so much worse in your mind than it is in reality!
Yup. 30s tends to be the decade I still imagine myself in. In my mind I'm still about 33, at least until I try to catch a fly ball - and if I'm not mistaken, you were there the last time I tried to do that at...over double the age of 33...and the fly ball landed on my head. At which point I realized it was time to quit baseball. Okay, now I'm sad. But it's a bittersweet sadness, because each decade has wonderful moments, and while you lose some things as time goes by, you're given other gifts, like enjoying a coffee and pastry at a table in the Piazza San Marco in Venice with your wife, working professionally with your son, voting Trump out of office. And while I can't do all the things I did in my 20s and 30s, I learned how to ski in my forties (again because of my son) and I can still do a headstand in yoga, which is something I don't think my dad could do at any age. So I'll take whatever decade I'm in for as long as I can.
Looking back, I would say you've written a very good assessment. (And if it feels weird to you, trust me it feels *very* weird to your parents to have a 30-year-old kid!)
Well, landmark ages shall continue to come, and they always provide an opportunity to reflect, both on what was and what may be. You are a fortunate guy to have the family you have, to be the person you are, and to be moving toward a goal. What I have found, even at my advanced age, is that there is always something new to learn. Just the other day I found out the definition of where space starts. Enjoy your life, you fine young man. Yu deserve it!!
Yup. 30s tends to be the decade I still imagine myself in. In my mind I'm still about 33, at least until I try to catch a fly ball - and if I'm not mistaken, you were there the last time I tried to do that at...over double the age of 33...and the fly ball landed on my head. At which point I realized it was time to quit baseball. Okay, now I'm sad. But it's a bittersweet sadness, because each decade has wonderful moments, and while you lose some things as time goes by, you're given other gifts, like enjoying a coffee and pastry at a table in the Piazza San Marco in Venice with your wife, working professionally with your son, voting Trump out of office. And while I can't do all the things I did in my 20s and 30s, I learned how to ski in my forties (again because of my son) and I can still do a headstand in yoga, which is something I don't think my dad could do at any age. So I'll take whatever decade I'm in for as long as I can.
Looking back, I would say you've written a very good assessment. (And if it feels weird to you, trust me it feels *very* weird to your parents to have a 30-year-old kid!)
Well, landmark ages shall continue to come, and they always provide an opportunity to reflect, both on what was and what may be. You are a fortunate guy to have the family you have, to be the person you are, and to be moving toward a goal. What I have found, even at my advanced age, is that there is always something new to learn. Just the other day I found out the definition of where space starts. Enjoy your life, you fine young man. Yu deserve it!!
Every decade birthday has its own specialties. I'm still hoping a future one comes with enlightenment.