Thirty-One

You'd think turning 30 would've been the big one, but not so. Last year, my thirtieth birthday came and when in a blur of sick girls, jet lag, Christmas preparations, a family reunion, and my in-laws 50th wedding anniversary. It's easy to see how it just got overlooked, and I never bothered to spend much time thinking about the fact that I was entering a new decade of life. I felt like I could still hang onto the twenties for one more year.

But this one I saw coming! Turning 31 seemed to scream "grown up" all over it. The kind of "grown up" that means I know what I want from life, I know who I am, I take responsibility for my choices and willing accept the consequences, I stand up for what I believe, and fight for things I think are right. The kind of "grown up" that means I am no longer defined by what year of life I am in, or what year I graduated, or what I studied in college.

I guess in a way, for me, turning 31 is kind of like being handed a clean slate. The mistakes and follies of my teens and twenties are long gone, and my focus is now on the future- making my mark in the world, raising my children, strengthening relationships with loved ones, and building a life worthy of being remembered by my posterity.

Am I over-analyzing the growing old bit? Probably. But all the same, this year I feel different. I feel more confident, more sure of where I have come from, and where I am going. I hear my future calling and I am ready to take it on!

So, here's to being Thirty-Something!