While I sit here tonight glass in hand in Tasmania, in a beautiful hotel overlooking the amazing city of Hobart, one of the world’s most southern cities on what is the last few hours of my thirties, I’m thinking thoughts of old.
The age thing doesn’t bother me. I do wonder where the years have gone and I have to think back to thoughts of old, year by year, one by one to what I did during that time to then remember that yes, I did live it, no one pressed fast forward. But as I sit here, merely hours from the time I entered this world 40 years ago, I’m feeling happy with my life and incredibly lucky for all that I have.
Some approach big birthdays with fear and dread, dread of getting older, of getting wrinkles, of hitting menopause. Maybe some aren’t where they thought they would be at this stage of their life so big birthdays like a 40th are the perfect time for reflection, for new plans, for future growth.
I’m in such a different place to what I was in my thirties. I was still hustling with work, always looking to make an extra buck on the side, always worried about the impression I was making. But now, I’m way less bothered about all that stuff and am so much happier in my own skin, doing my own thing at my own pace. And damn, it feels good!
39 Things I’m grateful for (in no particular order!)…
- My Hubby, my soul mate.
- My amazing, beautiful children.
- My 20+ year career I worked hard for.
- All of our health.
- Clean water to drink.
- Living by the ocean.
- Fresh air.
- My family at home in Wales, far but close
- Friends, quality not quantity
- Sunrise and sunset, the simple things in life
- Food on the table
- Roof over our heads
- Travel and adventures
- My legs for my beach walks
- Blogging – my therapy!
- Ability to read
- Nutella
- My Passport
- Spellcheck
- My iPhone camera to take a billion photo’s
- Hot chocolate
- My bed – easy to take for granted, until you don’t have one.
- Online shopping
- WiFi
- Being loved
- Loving others
- My senses intact
- Netflix
- Challenges for body and mind
- Kikki K Stationary
- Weekends – Time of magic
- Ability to learn and grow
- Time – There’s never enough of it
- My memories, so many made and yet to make
- The sound of laughter
- Smiling, always
- Technology, to make it all easier
- Breathing
- Another year of the game
I have wrinkles, I could be fitter and my legs could be longer, but I’m also loved by my children and a man I adore. I’m safe in the community I live, I’m happy and stable in my work and I have amazing friends in both the UK and here in Australia, and my thoughts of old are simply awesome memories.
In the last hours of my thirties, I find myself contemplating life, thinking of those I’ve lost, thinking of all I have achieved and all I want to. Time appears to have paused sitting here right now but I know it will pass, and I am already grateful of tomorrow. Now, in this moment, I sit pondering the lessons learned from my thirty-nine years and three hundred- and sixty-four-days in, and wonder if I’ve grown to be the person I was suppose to be. I also think again about how lucky I am to have made it this far. Not everyone does.
I leave my 30’s excited for what is ahead. Looking forward over the next decade, there’ll be lost of travel, lots of memories, lots more birthdays. more thoughts of old, and I’ll end this one with two children in the twenties, which will undoubtedly bring its own challenges, which I will embrace. At this age, I feel I now have the strength to handle all the obstacles and anything life throws at me. I’m determined to live a long life and do everything in my power to ensure I’m around for my kids, and their kids too.
My life is full, my mind rich, my heart happy. I wait in anticipation for a beautiful chapter to end, and a new one to begin. Thirties, out you go tonight with a kiss and a hug, you were awesome and I will remember you fondly, but tomorrow I turn the first page to the first day of my forties… and I can’t wait.
