First off, I’m not that old.  33 is definitely older than, say, 18 but not so much older that I can tell tales of having to walk uphill both ways to school without shoes or anything.  Granted, I’m not married yet but I do still have 75% of the American dream accounted for:  a house and a dog – I’m just missing the 2.5 kids, but I’m good with that.

What has brought on these thoughts?  My 23-year-old roommate.  In some ways having her around makes me feel younger…but then in other ways having her around makes me feel incredibly old.  I wouldn’t have necessarily thought that would be the case because she’s only a year younger than my sister Kristin, and yet it seems that there are things that come out in our conversations that make me take a step back and go “wow.”

Just so we’re clear, this isn’t about me feeling “old” and wishing I was younger.  I don’t.  Really.  I love being in my 30’s.  In fact, so far I think my 30’s are waaaaay better than my 20’s.  Even with as much fun as I had in my 20’s (moving to Alaska, living in NYC, traveling around Europe, getting the lowest salary known to man and learning how to live happily on it, etc.) I would never want to go back and repeat my 20’s.  No way.  Not in a million.  You couldn’t pay me.

While my 20’s were fun, they were also full of self-discovery and struggling to find answers to questions about my place in the world.  On the other hand, my 30’s have so far been more about having figured out a lot of that stuff and relaxing into life.  My 30’s have (so far) seen great leaps in my career including a job I really enjoy and a salary which allowed me to purchase a home as well as a puppy.  They have also brought with them the best trips I have taken to date and I have no doubt there are greater things yet to come…

Just to give you a taste, some of my pre-40 goals include:

  • Become completely debt-free
  • Move to another part of the country (or perhaps another country altogether…I’m flexible)
  • Travel to Antarctica, Africa, Australia & New Zealand, the Arctic, China, and Patagonia

It’s crazy to me that I can look at that list and know that there’s nothing unobtainable there.  I could never have imagined being able to say that about a list like this in my 20’s – for most of my 20’s, it was all I could do to pay for food!

I still have my moments (as do we all) where I’m frustrated at being unclear in my purpose or lonely (for instance, I was in tears the other night fearing that I might not find someone to share my life with while I still look good naked).  But at the end of [most] days, I rest secure in knowing that God has a purpose for me whether I can readily recognize it or not.  When I look at how He’s provided for me so far, how can I doubt that He won’t continue to blow my mind with His plans and provisioning for my future?