Life in my 30s Vs Life in my 20s

36 is right around the corner. Sometimes I wonder how I got to be that old. I will be turning the big 40 in just a couple of years. I still remember when my Dad turned 40. I was only about five years old but my mom planned a big surprise party for him. They had a lot of party favors that said “Over the Hill” including a personalized Bingo game. It is hard to believe I will be that age in just a few years.

As I look back at my 30s so far and even back when I was in my 20s, I have to say there are some big differences. Some of these are more emotional and others just happen when you get to be a certain age.

• I can’t lose weight like I used to. It is harder. I can do the exact same things I did when I was in my 20s and it takes that much more to get the weight down. I didn’t think this would happen to me, but it did. This is why I want to have a good weight loss routine now because I bet it will be even harder to lose weight in my 40s.

• The white/grey hairs and the inner debating about coloring my hair. So they have appeared. I cut them and they come back. Those white and grey hairs are here and here to stay. I am not quite at a point where I would have to color my hair but it is coming. So do I let my hair do its natural thing or suck it up and start coloring it? Other than my senior year of high school and a handful of times since then have I even colored my hair. I am not one to want to mess with it. I am not one who wants to worry about having to get it done every six weeks. On the other hand, do I want to look older because I am letting it grey naturally?

• I am no longer a night owl. I used to stay up very late. I could stay up until 2 and get up at 6 or 7 and although tired, I could make it through. Now? I am lucky if I can make it to 11:30pm. I now fall asleep while watching tv which is something I never did before.

• My beliefs are changing. I have always been a Christian, I am still a Christian but my beliefs about what that truly means have been changing. I look at life differently than I did when I was in my 20s. I have heard more stories and seen more of the world. I think it is no wonder than my beliefs have shifted a little bit.

• High School is a lifetime away. It’s been 17.5 years since I graduated from high school. I was 18 and when I think about how it has been almost 18 years since that event, I feel a little in shock. I have not seen someone of the people I am friends with from high school on Facebook since that day. That was literally a lifetime ago. I am double the age I was. I have lived a whole ‘nother 18 years away from that place. When I was in my 20s, high school was several years away. It was something in the near past. Now? It feels like something a lot further away than that.

What about you? Are you in your 30s? What’s different for you?