Twenties vs. Thirties

Yesterday I had a conversation with someone who hadn't heard about my blog. I gave her one of my swanky new writer business cards and we talked about pursuing your dreams. She was so enthusiastic about many of the topics I was writing about. It was fun to talk about some of these things and see the wheels of her mind turning.

It turns out she was in need of inspiration that day to stop waffling about what she really wants to do in life. She's known for years what she is passionate about doing, but for all of the reasons that hold us back in life, she had been waiting. Just by talking for a few minutes about what I'm learning through pursuing my dream of writing, she had an "epiphany" about what she needs to do next and we both left the conversation inspired.

During the same conversation, I also put my foot in it nicely by saying that when I was in my twenties I really didn't know myself at all, and that you are so sure of everything when you are that young but you don't necessarily have the confidence or life experience to be effective in your own life. I believe I even used the word "stupid" at one point to describe myself in my early twenties, only to find out that the person I was talking with was 25. Whoops.

I don't think she was offended by what I was saying, but I realized that sometimes I need to slow down and think before I pontificate. I love how this blog has put me in tune with my thoughts and feelings as I'm experiencing things, but I'm not sure why I assumed the person I was talking to was nearer to my age instead of in her mid-twenties. Is that just me not paying attention? Possibly.

After I took my foot out of my mouth, she asked me some questions about the good parts of aging. She asked if I felt more settled in my thirties, less urgent about everything, and I said most definitely. I understand time in a very different way. Yes, time is going by too fast, but in a strange way it slows down so that you notice more, and I have realized that I don't have to accomplish everything NOW - that today is followed by tomorrow, and so on.

She also confessed to worrying about failure, and I told her that gets better too. You begin to be concerned more with what is under your own control and less about what is under other people's control. Part of that is confidence, but some of it is experience; knowing that you will regret more of the chances you didn't take, than the ones you took and failed at. This single enlightenment has been huge to move me away from the obstacles that stopped me and opened up the road so I could travel to where I want to go.