What will 30 get me?

This year leading up to my 30th birthday has me contemplating many things, but one of them keeps resurfacing as I observe the daily goings on around me. What will 30 get me?

Throughout life we hit "milestone" birthdays and there usually seems to be something that comes with that new age. Thirteen brings becoming a teenager, and though in hindsight that isn't all it's cracked up to be, it's an exciting birthday year for a twelve year old. Sixteen brings the legal ability to drive, along with the promise of a driver's license in the near future. Eighteen brings the permission to buy cigarettes (even for a person that doesn't smoke it's still a liberating purchase) and lottery tickets (has anyone ever won on their first lottery ticket purchase?), as well as the freedom to enlist in the military. Twenty-one is the big one, allowing the purchase and consumption of alcoholic beverages.

Between 21 and 30, there are no birthdays to really "look forward to". And everyone makes such a big deal of turning 30, even coining such phrases as "dirty thirty" and "flirty thirty" to help add to the anticipation. But what about turning 30 is dirty? I looked up the phrase "dirty thirty" in the urban dictionary, but nothing I found relates to actually turning 30 (don't look it up, I'm warning you). I am mystified at where the phrase came from and what it suggests.

I don't know how I'll feel when the day actually comes for me to turn 30. What I do know is this: it will just be another year in my blessed life, and I hope it will promise to be a good one. I don't know why many people act like turning 30 is so dismal. Why is aging a bad thing? It's part of the natural course of life.

As a society we are obsessed with anti-aging serums and lotions and creams to rid our bodies of the visible signs of cellulite. We have dye to keep our hair the same color so we won't notice that we're actually getting older. We wear trendier clothes and try to look young and cool. I'm just wondering, what would happen if we embraced our aging years instead of trying to defy (and deny) time? Maybe we would take the time to enjoy every day and prioritize what's really important to us, instead of racing around trying to beat the clock (or just keep up with it), doing activities we'd rather not.

As I approach 30, my goal is to slow down. I don't want to spend the rest of my life trying to recapture my "lost" youth. I'm going to remind myself that even though it's a good one and I enjoy it, my job is just a job. I cannot breathe and live it. I will place more importance on my family and my friendships, because really those are what make life so enjoyable. I'd like to smell the roses, but for now I'll focus on stopping to breathe, because sometimes I think I forget. I will try hard not to let life spin out of control because I've become obsessed with trivial things. I will focus on what I think is important, not on what society's billboards, magazine ads, commercials, television shows, celebrities, politicians, and music tell me I should think is important. I have a mind of my own, and it's damn time I used it. My life is mine to live, no one else's. So, bring it on, 30!!!