"To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch...to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded!"-Emerson
We are about to head out of town for the next two weeks to go visit friends and family, vacation at the beach for a week and to celebrate my 30th. So, I'll be taking a break from this for a little while. I turn 30 on Sunday, July 27 (phone calls are encouraged!). As I approach my 30th, I do so with excitement, although it seems to have a lack of grandeur. When I was younger, 30 seemed much more of a milestone to me then it does today. Maybe it's because I don't want to come to grips with getting older. I've always been known as "young kristy" in Joe's family, no wonder I've been called it less and less lately. Perhaps it's because I'm less focused on it, spending my days watching the development of a 19 month old in amazement. Or perhaps it is because I have accomplished all of the perceived "milestones" one wants to achieve before they turn 30. I'm happily married, the mother to a beautiful son, own my house, plus I've been to Europe twice, Hawaii twice and lived throughout the United States, being able to see so much of the country. Maybe the only thing I'm missing is the success in a fabulous career. But I did have that, as far as I wanted it. I now choose to be mostly a stay at home mom because that's what Joe & I know is best for our family.
So what does turning 30 mean to me if I've accomplished all those milestones? I think it's a great time for me to reflect on how wonderfully I have been blessed. How I have succeeded in life through my own actions, decisions and choices and how God has also blessed me. I need to be more thankful for that. I am thankful most days, but of course I get caught up in the whole Jonses thing (who can avoid it in suburban America?). However, I need to stop worrying about what I don't have and focus on what I do have-so much, so many abundant blessings. The quote above (which I have read and loved for years) came to me by way of a magnet from Joe's cousin for my birthday. It couldn't have been a more perfect gift, thanks Jill. The words in that quote are exactly what I would like to define my life. Those are the real milestones in life, that is true accomplishment. That is really what life is all about. So, that's the serious side of me.
Now the partier side of me (which we all know hasn't really gone too far away), would like to adopt Tim McGraw's outlook as well in his song My Next 30 Years and perhaps:
"Oh my next thirty years, I'm gonna watch my weight
Eat a few more salads and not stay up so late
Drink a little lemonade and not so many beers
Maybe I'll remember my next thirty years"
2 comments:
I love this post. It was great to catch up with you on the phone the other day. I meant what I said to you ~ I really think that 30 is the new 20, and things get even better as we become more grounded. And you have accomplished so much already, that you definitely deserve to live by that song for your next 30 (and beyond!) Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us. Hope you're having a great celebration trip.
Happy birthday Kristy! I love your summation of turning 30... very true indeed. You are very blessed and deserving of all the wonderful people and things in your life. My 30th b-day advice is to a) invest in a high-end eye cream (if you haven't already) and b) open a 10-year CD as a gift to your 40-year-old self!
PS - I just opened a Google account today... hence my first comment here - I'll come back around more often!
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