Being thirty was about the best thing that ever happened to me.
I’d set goals and achieved them, and the world seemed like a welcome place, with manifold glorious destinations. My mind was likely at its sharpest (although admittedly, I still had much to learn), 
I’ve probably never looked better, before or since, and I’d started to make some money. Not a lot, but more than ever before, and it seemed like a fortune.
If I could live forever in that magical world, that’s where I’d be. Has my life gone downhill since? No, not really. I’ve had ups and downs — that’s the way life is — but I’ve never regained that sense of optimism, my belief in the future and my own potential.
That glory must have been more than reaching my goals, because I’ve set goals and achieved them since that time, goals that were further out of reach and potentially more rewarding.
The problem with that sort of idealism is the world is more complex and more ordinary than our dreams. Jobs don’t deliver, people disappoint us, relationships fail. Of course then we find better work, more rewarding and lasting, we discover friends who stand beside us through thick & thin, and new relationships begin, with all the hope they hold at the start. But it’s the first time the world looks good that we’re happiest, because we don’t have the cynicism of experience.
Yet the wisdom we gain over the years benefits us, too. We see that hard times end, and impossible situations are resolved through perseverance and yes, some luck. Pain beats at us persistently, but in the end we overcome it, newly girded with the wisdom of survival.
Looking in the mirror can be discouraging. Our looks fade. It costs more money to maintain a lesser appearance. It’s hard sometimes to remember you’re 55 and not 35, who your peers actually are and what you can & can’t do anymore.
Given the choice, I’d always prefer to be an adult, but can I specify a few things? I’d like to have the physical and physiological benefits of being 30, with the wisdom and maturity that comes from living.
Of course we’re not given any such choice, or anything like it, and I’m aware many have the same thoughts as they get older. Makes me wonder what I need to appreciate about being the age I am now, and what I’ll miss about it 20 or 30 years from now.
Image Credit: © justdd — Bigstock
My World With Words 
All so true! Right now we need to appreciate (in our fifties) that we have even fewer aches, pains, and limitations than we’ll have (hopefully) in our seventies/eighties! While we lose the physical attributes of youth we gain so much more appreciation for all things great & small as we mature. Carpe diem! 🙂
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I agree — the more I think about it, the more I value this time in my life. I still (as you mention) have mobility, but I also have a much greater appreciation for life. The balance feels good!
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I had to chuckle with your line that “it costs more money to achieve a lesser appearance.” I’ve been feeling that way! I never did much in the way of beauty and now I’m doing so much more. It is expensive!
I wish I could be 30 again – but for the reason that I want to follow my dreams longer. I found them again when I turned 50. I am pushing myself because I know how precious time is. There’s so much that I want to do now that I am older! I am fortunate that I love my life so much. I made the choice to follow my passion that has been huge for me.
I do hope there are things about this age that you will look back on fondly. 🙂
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I so agree with you about wishing I had more time to pursue my dreams!! I value this time in my life, but sometimes I catch my image in the mirror and am deeply disappointed in what I see. Oh well.
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I’m in total agreement with you on that. I avoid looking too closely at the mirror, but I can’t avoid it when I’m trying to pluck those nasty chin hairs lol!!!!
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“Makes me wonder what I need to appreciate about being the age I am now, and what I’ll miss about it 20 or 30 years from now.” I find myself wondering the same. Great piece, Belinda!
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Thank you 🙂
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I like your posts. We are the same age and I sure agree with you. I remind myself that in 10 years
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I will look back at the picture taken today and feel pretty good about my looks!
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It’s all a matter of perspective, isn’t it?
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And thank you! As soon as I saw your blog, I felt it was one I wanted to follow.
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Yours, too! We are writers and like movies and are Christian and the same age. 🙂
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I agree with you here. No matter how much we try to plan, life is still a roller coaster that will take us through exciting moments and moments we wish did not happen.
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Thank you, and thank you for the follow. Plans are good but flexibility is key, right?
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Agreed, it is good to have a plan in order to know what you want to do, but it is important to be flexible as well, it is how one learns how to be an adult
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Thank you for an honest and emotionally real post.
Great quote: “The problem with … idealism is the world is more complex and more ordinary than our dreams.”
I wrote a short essay (800 words) called “The Idealistic Dreamer: Risking Everything with No Plan B.” If you would like to read it, I am open to any feedback: https://christopherjohnlindsay.wordpress.com/2017/11/25/the-idealistic-dreamer/
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Will be happy to take a look.
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