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30!?!??!
When I was growing up, I always looked forward to that milestone birthday that I thought would make life better. Turning thirteen meant my parents had to respect my gangsta as a teenager, turning 16 meant I could drive legally, turning 21 meant I could drink while driving , and turning 25 meant my car insurance wouldn’t be as expensive. Now that I’ve passed the quarter century mark, I’m trying to slam the brakes harder than Tiger on Thanksgiving. I’ve even resorted to lying to people about my age. I figure if I start now, by the time I’m 47, I’ll have lied about my age for so long, I’ll actually be convinced I’m only 31.
30 is that cliche age that people base their success on while they are young. Just about every smart move made by a person during their 20′s is designed to boost them across that 30 year mark with flying colors, hopefully with some time to spare. One false move can set you off pace. The job, finances, and love life all have to be figured out by 30 or you’ll spontaneously combust when the clock strikes 12 on your 30th birthday. Hence the origin of the pact formed between men and women, usually after drunken yet mind blowing sex:
Suzy Wong: GOTDAMN…that was good.
Nicodemus: I know. You’re welcome. By the way, where’d you learn to do that thing with…
Suzy Wong: Don’t ask questions you don’t really want the answer to, homie.
Nicodemus: Fair enough. Listen, I think we make a good team, but I’m not ready to settle down. If were both single when we turn 30, we should get married. Deal?
Suzy Wong: Keep slinging it like that and you’ve got a deal.
30 is probably the reason for this reported epidemic of black women unable to find a man. I’m sure a woman looking to settle down can find a soul mate eventually, but they probably won’t/haven’t by 30. This is understandable as the proverbial biological clock rolls on and society continues to imply that you are defective if you aren’t married by 30. Men probably have the same concerns about turning 30, until they smooth talk some young dumb girl into sex but it’s clearly not made into as a big a deal as the woman’s plight. **cue James Brown’s It’s A Man’s World**
I could sit here and tell you not to sweat turning 30, age is just a number and all that jazz. But the reality is that everyone is fascinated with the turning 30, so as much as you try you won’t be able to avoid it. You’ll attend a slew of 30th birthday bashes and endure the agony of friends whining to you about turning 30 and still not doing x, y and z. I’m still on the fairer side of 30, but I’m not to worried about it right now because I’m still far away from 30 (look at that…lying right there), and I’m pretty sure my body is not going to combust or age dramatically overnight. (I hope)
How do you feel about 30?
Seriously, I’m 24,
…get a damn signature Seattle.
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if this isn’t hilarious..
you hit the nail on the head.. i can’t tell you how i feel about 30.. cuz 30 was 2008.. i turn 32 in 2 months..
everything you’ve outlined is true.. i do have those people that pop up with the “you’re so smart, you should be married (thank you??)” business.. and honestly, i could do without the pressure.. my clock isn’t ticking exactly.. but i got a B+ in biology, so i know what could pop off if i wait too much longer to have a child..
i won’t lie though.. once i passed 30, every birthday that comes thereafter involves some deep reflection (eternal) that has me end up depressed on the day of my birth.. simply because i haven’t gotten it all together.. (with a little help from my buddies at USCIS)
as long as i don’t “look” 30, i’m alright…
#thatsthetruth
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, B.A., LLC, Affirm Dese Nuts Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 9:41 am
Have you called your Congressman about that CIS problem?
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Nick_L_Odeon Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:29 am
my lawyer kindly said that might not be the best idea.. since i’m expecting them to be on my month(year) next month.. apparently the REAL fight starts then.. it’s been advised that i stay low until then.. especially because of the whole Arizona thing..
crazy.. i had to cancel my plane ticket for the Matchmaker event.. they’re profiling in Florida, and apprently affecting my life even MORE! i’m gonna be p*ssed all day..
thanks for lookin out though, sweetie…
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SaneN85 Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:46 am
Well, you really don’t look 30. Bright Side!
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Nick_L_Odeon Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 12:51 pm
thank you mama… i hope to ride that wave as long as i can…
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Damn…how relevant as I countdown (5 days) to my 25th birthday. I don’t even wanna think about 30…I’m fighting 25 as it is…
But in reality, I find myself feeling “okay” about where I am (generally) at my age because very few of my close peers are at the fantasized “place they should be” at their age. Everything comes with time…including birthdays, so I say “Stop dreading and start embracing” cuz the b-days will only keep coming and that number will only get higher…
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This post is on the money. Ill be 25 in a month and I started having a quarter century crisis right after I hit 24 lol. Everyone keeps telling me how young I am but I haven’t hit the goals I set for myself at 25 yet. Learning the world won’t self destruct at midnight, still got time.
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SaneN85 Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 am
This was me at turning 24 (and again at 25 two months ago). I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s having a quarter-life crisis.
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I barely noticed 30 or 31 for that matter….all I knew was that it was my birthday and I was bout to be bout it! I’ve never had a worry about getting older. Hell I’ve been looking forward to 40 since I was 18!!! Hmm…maybe because I’m the baby in my family and I haven’t seen my siblings or praents go coocoo about getting older, hell if anything, they make it look fun as hell! LOL.
My goals have always shifted and flexed so I’ve never been obsessed with having to finish xyz by abc time. There’s a reason they say youth is wasted on the young. I’m enjoying where I am and I’m sure by the time I’m 40 some folk better watch out!
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LOL! Thirty!???
Thirty was SO LONG ago for me..I was still wet behind the ears…I have learned and grown so much since then. I wouldn’t want to go back..that is for sure..but, enjoy each milestone b-day that you have, because if you’re not celebrating a milestone birthday…your dead…and you don’t want that. lol.
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I’m getting old. I’m still young though. However, I know I’m getting old b/c these older jernts are starting to look good to me like “whats guuuuuuuu?”
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See now I’m torn…
I’m young but I feel old (old as in: too smart for my own damn good…perhaps born in the wrong era type of old)
I feel like I want to get these 20′s over and done with so I can really enjoy myself and have some of these uncertainties and anxieties gone, but then I don’t want to waste this time either on being too damn goal oriented and risk averse, etc.
I’m nowhere near where I should be or want to be in life, but I guess I should slow down and enjoy this time as well.
eff it! I want to be 75 in a rocking chair reminiscing on the good ol’ days and waiting for my rocket to come #IloveJasonMraz
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When I was about 27 a friend told me that being 30 would change my life in amazing ways that I couldn’t begin to comprehend. He said that all of a sudden, minor sh*t would stop bothering me and my tolerance for bullsh*t would dwindle down to nothing. He said it was like magic. So that – coupled with the fact that 30 was my champagne birthday – made me really excited.
It turned out he was right. I vastly prefer life on the far side of 30. You still look as hot as you did in your 20′s but you’re not as navel-gazing.
However. I’m turning 35 in a few months and that is making me mildly nauseated.
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My girl and I had this convo last night. I was telling her about a potential investment opportunity and possible career change, and how excited I am about it. We are both in our late 20s, and look forward to 30. The things that were important to us at 25 are no longer at the top of our priority lists. And it feels great.
In addition, I’m not one of those women who thinks something is wrong with me if I happen to be single or unmarried at 30. Which is a big for me since when I was 23-25, I wanted to be married w/ kids at 30. Now, that’s maybe 4th/5th in my life goals. I am truly looking forward to 30. Hell, I’m already planning my multi-city party.
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wow!! i will be 30 in six months and i am scared. mainly because i am guilty of feeling that i should be at a “certain point” finacially and personally. i have accomplished alot in my 29 years and i should be proud of that but i cant help to view the roads i have traveled and how different the are compared to the goals i set for myself in my eraly 20″s. with that being said though, i am excited about 30 in a different way, i agree that you seem much wiser, and tolerence for BS is at 0. its nice to be able to share my life experiences with the younger ones and tell them just like my elders told me: i been there done that!!
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Well if 30 is truly the new 20, i’ll be 20(+10) in about 4 years. As of today, I will just enjoy being 25 (+1)! Hopefully in 4 years on this day I will be much wiser, happier and richer (in the spiritual, monetary and mental way). Til then, I’M YOUNG FOREVER!
GO LAKERS!
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I looked forward to my thirties since I was a teen ironically, I used to go to a hair salon called Fringes, and there were four stylists on CAp Hill and I thought they were the FLYEST when I about 15, esp Jackie and Abrilla, and they were in their 30′s I said then, thats how I want to be when I get that age and looked forward to it and stepped into and surpassed what I though it’d be for the most part!!!
Enjoy every season being the best you!
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I turn 30 next year and I still get carded which is a boost to my ego. HA! But other than that I dont mind turning 30.
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30′s the new 20
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, B.A., LLC, Affirm Dese Nuts Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 1:46 pm
Yea, but your ID still says old 30.
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The Honorable and Rather Articulate Award Winning RightCoastLexSteele, B.A., LLC, Affirm Dese Nuts Reply:
June 3rd, 2010 at 2:34 pm
Like ya blog, btw.
LOL…I have an alias on fb though. Deal with it.
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So this post definitely just put my whole life in check. When I opened it and saw that big ol’ 30 there. I bout cried, and I’m only 23… really tho… I am. Lol. I’ll be 24 at the end of the month and I’m planning my 25th right now. I can’t believe 30 is calling my name. In respect to my career, I’m actually doing what I went to school for… and I’m getting paid way more than most of my peers. Do I enjoy it? That’s another story. Love life? What love life? I’ve definitely been hit w/ that Nicodemus #swindle before…
Sigh. I guess this birthday will be about self reflection.
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I hate age but age is a state of mind and body. As long as you take care of yourself physically you’ll be ok.
I remember turning 18 and being wowed. I was very reflexive at 25 also.
30 I will reflect again, and embrace the future!
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30? Meh.
I guess I really don’t gibbadamb too much about the age…I am getting annoyed with my granny’s requests to procreate before “my eggs shrivel like raisins in the sun”. No lie, direct quote. LOL
I’m trying something neew this year; instead of dwelling o the things I don’t have/may not have by 30, I’m focusing on what I got. Tis a much happier existence for me. LOL
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Eff a signature.
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Wow!! I am not 30 yet, I have 3 more years but I do feel like I should be at a certain point when I am 30. I really don’t care about the marriage and the biological clock crap (honestly, I really don’t like kids-maybe I’ll grow out of it). But I just finished graduate school, I feel this 3 years will give me enough time to get myself together financially (I personally think the rest of my life is pretty good-just need to get the finances up). I will be 27 in 2 months so hopefully that will be the first step in getting my ish together. I been a broke college/grad student for to damn long.
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Since I out-Babyface Kenneth Edmonds, I’m not worried how I LOOK at 30, but I do sometimes worry if I’ll be satisfied with what I’ve done. I only have today to start.
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I turn 30 in two weeks. Its not about being married, debt free, with a house, kids, etc. It’s about knowing your priorities, being in a positiion to achieve the goals, and being confident in your execution. So if you haven’t achieved it all but you know what you want and are positioning yourself to get there, take a bow!
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