Turning 30 soon? This One’s for You…

So, apparently this is me making a ‘3’ and ‘0’ with my hands - it looks kind of like I’ve joined a weird gang. I promise I haven’t though…

Lately, I’ve seen a lot of people on Twitter talking about turning 30 this year and how much it upsets them. It’s as though they are waiting for a prison sentence to start and see the big 3-0 as a huge black cloud looming in the distance. It made me wonder what the big deal was - so I wanted to spend a bit of time today sharing my take on it and (hopefully!) putting a few myths to bed.

I’ve been 30 for six months now and I’m going to let you in on a little secret: it’s pretty damn great. AND (surprise!) it’s not actually much different from turning 29!

On the morning of your 30th birthday, you will NOT wake up looking like the Evil Queen from Snow White. A guy dressed like one of the Men In Black isn’t going to arrive at your door with a checklist of things that you Should Have Done By Now. You aren’t going to be scolded for being unmarried, or not being on the property ladder, or not being the vice president of a company just because you’re turning 30.

In fact, the only people that seem to be making these demands on us is… us. When I chat to friends about their expectations for their 30th year, they often say things like “I just want to have had a baby by the time I’m 30”, or “if I don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing with my life when I turn 30, I’ll be so angry with myself”. So, instead of looking forward to another birthday, the very idea of it gives them The Fear.

It’s OK to not quite have everything figured out yet, and we really must stop putting so much pressure on ourselves. We’re focusing so much on the destination that we’ve forgotten all about the journey! Yes, it is a milestone birthday - but the way I see it, it’s an opportunity to celebrate your life so far AND get excited about what’s still to come. Who could be scared of something so fabulous?

Here are a few other reasons why I believe that turning 30 is awesome:

- you’re more comfortable in your own skin than ever before and less anxious about what other people think

- by now, you’ve learned a few tough lessons and feel much better for it

- your friends are real friends, the kind that make your life that little bit better and have no agenda other than being amazing

- you’re more self-aware and want to look after yourself and others more

- you can now balance serious ‘adulting’ with having a total ball AND have the added bonus of being in charge of your own destiny

So, if you’ve got the big 3-0 coming up, don’t sweat it, toots! I promise that you will be just fine. I hope you love turning 30 and everything that it means - so stop being so hard on yourself and have fun!

With love, birthday candles and paper cups,