Life

Thirty in Thirty

July 29, 2011

My twin sister Lea reminded me today that we will be THIRTY in just thirty days.

Can I be honest? I have no idea how that is possible. I should be turning twenty instead of thirty. But no, the calendar is true.

And it has kind of been getting to me. Just a little bit.

Thirty is that golden age where you are supposed to be when you have grown out of your confused, quirky, mistake-ridden, adventurous, productive twenties. It’s supposed to be when you have your life figured out. The party’s over, man. Time to settle down.

But life is still a wild ride, and I have my eyes on the future, set to grow and do big things. I have a five-year plan and a ten-year plan — things I certainly didn’t have when I was twenty. I know what I want more now than I did then, and I know what matters to me most. I also know what I’m passionate about and can be successful at, as well as what I can’t.

I also know I ended two clauses in that last sentence with prepositions. Another lesson from my twenties? You can (and sometimes should) intentionally and purposefully break the rules when you know what they are.

So what’s in store for this next year? The next five years? The next ten? Here’s a snippet of what I’m thinking about.

  • By next year, I want to finish writing four more short stories for a short short story book. I don’t know that I’ll publish the book or anything like that, but I know I want to write the stories.
  • This year, I want to become more proficient in a foreign language. I always saw myself as multi-lingual, but sadly, I am not.
  • This year, I will map out a plan for my graduate degree — what program, how to pay for it, and how to make the scheduling work.
  • By the time I’m thirty-five, I want to have paid off my current student loans and finished my graduate degree without the debt I incurred for my Bachelor’s.
  • By the time I’m forty, I want to have the education, skills, and plan in place to start a charter school. Education reform is a problem that I truly believe passionate teachers, parents, and members of the community can fix. I want to be part of the solution. (If you’re passionate about this, too, check out the action list on WaitingforSuperman.com.)

Chris and I have family and business goals as well. Debt free goals, buy a house in January goals, save big goals, plan for Mackenzie’s education goals. I think having goals and working toward them is a huge key to happiness, because when we see the future and start to work in that direction, change seems possible. Anything seems possible.

What big milestone have you hit recently? How do you feel about it?

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1 Comment

  • Reply Chris July 30, 2011 at 1:12 am

    I’m so proud of you babe! Cant wait to talk more about this with you

    [Reply]

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