No sympathy, please.

[NbyNW]

Speaking of the turn of decades, I had the most delightful conversation over the phone yesterday, with a gal at my insurance agent's office. She was talking about the experience of recently turning 29 and going on 30, and how she was just gaining a new appreciation for everything and everyone around her. She was feeling so grateful that she could spend her lunch break running on the Burke-Gilman trail, train for her first tri at Lake Sammamish, loving the discovery of an active lifestyle that her in-laws introduced her to . . . it was one of those infectiously happy conversations. And she apologized for talking my ear off, but I felt so happy for her and so enjoyed hearing about her experiences I told her to keep talking.

She was taking a wonderful, celebratory, big bite out of life at the prospect of turning 30. I loved hearing about it.

Those decades can be a big deal. I do remember being almost too busy to notice when I turned 30. I'm a couple years away from 40 . . . wonder if I'll be too busy again or if it will be a time for reflection.

[jobob]

40 wasn't hard for me at all; 45, on the other hand, was a little bit rough, because right around then I started to need reading glasses and I started to notice other things that reminded me I was getting on in years, argh.

But my 50th, that was an excellent birthday -- it wasn't too long after my recovery from my bike crash and I had a lot to be thankful for!

[Crankin]

30 and 40, no big deal. 45 bothered me a lot. I was getting fat and unhappy. 50... no problem, nor 55. I think 60 is really going to bother me.
Most people think I am in my 40s. I went out to dinner with someone I worked with at my internship last year the other night. She asked me, "How old are you?" When I said 57, I could see her eyes get wide. She definitely thought I was about 45.
I don't say anything to anyone about my age. Yesterday, I went for my physical. I saw a new person in the practice, who asked me what the secret of my excellent hdl/ldl ratio was at "my age." I replied that there was no secret: diet and exercise.

[ridebikeme]

KNot, I love your attitude! I had several college coaches with that mindset, and have to say that they motivated me at times when I didn't have any!

I think the hardest thing sometimes is the expectiations we put on ourselves. We always strive to do more, and sometimes it comes back to haunt us. While I have no great words of encouragment, I would say that we should all be thankful for each and every day that we have here. Take care of yourself physically, but also don't forget to take care of the soul... that is the driving force behind all of us. It's the part that allows us to get in touch with everything around us. I've often heard that people who live in Alaska say that they felt a great deal of energy while living there, and while I can't fully understand it... I tend to believe it.

So lastly, I would say compete only with yourself, make yourself better and in the end that's all we can do. Keep a journal of good and bad days, workouts, sleep patterns, diet etc... perhaps that will lend some useful information.

take care!

[OakLeaf]

Heh, I'm 51, and I have yet to have a birthday as hard as 25 was.

Reference that depression I mentioned. It was four years later before I started treatment. At 25, I was back in school after a two-year hiatus after undergrad. A third of my life was over and I hadn't accomplished anything!

It's funny to look back on, but I really struggled with it at the time.

50, meh. 40, even less so. At 30, so many things were going on in my life that it was actually kind of exciting.

If I make it to 60 (part of thinking and feeling young, for me, is NOT believing I'm immortal the way so many people seem to when they get to be our age) - I may struggle with that. Hard to tell yet. (ETA - that's probably part of why turning 40 was so easy for me. I turned 40 not long before the turn of the millennium. In the 1980s I don't think I knew a single soul who thought we'd survive to see the year 2000.)