For some reason I somehow have this strange belief that after you turn 30 you stop doing the stupid things that you do in your 20’s. That some great wisdom comes over you that prevents you from doing the things that will hurt you the most.
Yeah, that’s a bunch of crap – but the question remains, will I ever learn?!
Sorry for the emo post….I don’t let this side of me come out too often, but every once in a while it escapes.
It’s like thinking that the imaginary barrier in a restaurant will really keep the smoking and non-smoking sections separate. No avoiding it.
But I guess what differs is how we learn from it? 😛
I look back on my 20’s and it seems like I was so much more organized and made less stupid decisions. I think after graduating from university – I took the approach that I’m independent and wanted to prove to the world how successful I could be in all aspects of my life. I had something to prove to everyone I knew. Now I’m in my 30’s, I’m like “whatever”. I think I get myself into more trouble now because I make a good salary and can do all the things I wanted to do in my 20’s but couldn’t afford it. I guess since my 20’s were so tame, I’m rebelling now (aka: following my heart).. which comes with a bit of irresponsibility.
Is it just a case of acting on that feeling of restlessness and feeling guilt knowing you should be making more responsible decisions? I think life is about continuous growth and learning. In your 20’s, you are just getting a sense of who you are. In your 30’s you finally know who you are and what you really want and finally have the confidence to go after “it” – whatever “it” is. Sometimes going for “it” is going to lead you down the wrong path.. but at least you can say you tried if it fails and chock it up to experience.
Life isn’t as easy as it was for our parents. For them, it was finishing high school, maybe going to college, getting married, falling into a longterm job, having kids etc. It was a simple path. For us – there is so much more available to us and it’s so much more confusing to get to where we want to be.. of course we’re going to make more mistakes along this incredibly confusing path! I have faith though our generation will be more settled into our 40’s – when we’ve finally discovered who we are, had a good 10 years to chase after what we desire most and then finally achieve nirvana. At least, I can HOPE!