KatiePortman.com

This post is in honour of a friend of mine who turns 30 tomorrow. Like many people, she’s not particularly looking forward to hitting 30 and I don’t blame her.

The big 30 is a scary number, especially for a woman and I’m speaking from experience. I turned 30 last November and wasn’t best pleased about it. When the day arrived however, it was nowhere near as bad as I thought and being spoilt by my loved ones certainly helped to ease the pain!

But… roll on a good few months and I have to admit, life as a 30-year-old has been a challenge. And I’m not alone in my thinking. For many of us, it appears that 30 is one hell of a tricky age to be. Here’s a little bit of what I’ve experienced so far.

The Good:

• Feeling womanly – this could be wishful thinking but after worrying about feeling old at 30, I actually feel like I’m entering my prime. I’ve never felt happier, sexier or more comfortable in my own skin and I’m loving it.

• Being bold -  being 30 is definitely forcing me to re-evaluate my life and prompting me to be brave. I wanted to go freelance for ages but couldn’t have done it in my twenties as I didn’t have the confidence. I turned 30 and suddenly the notion of being self-employed didn’t seem so scary.

• Appreciating life - I have a different appreciation of life than I did, say, in my early twenties. I feel like the world is my oyster and I want to enjoy as much of it as I possibly can.

The Bad:

• Things not making sense – for some reason, 30 seems to be the age where I’m continually questioning everything I once thought to be true. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all about embracing change but having your beliefs shaken to their core can be very disconcerting.

• Realising I’m not that wise after all – when I was in my twenties, I thought I had everything sussed but it appears not so. This year has taught me that I still have an awful lot to learn, especially when it comes to my judgment of people.

• Making adult decisions – in your teens and twenties, anything seems possible and damn to the consequences. Now I’m 30, I’m beginning to understand that life is all about decisions and consequences. Being reckless no longer seems as much fun and making decisions has suddenly become a serious matter.

The Ugly:

• Hangovers from hell – I’ve noticed this for a while but more so these past few months…that now, just a few glasses of wine are enough to cause serious next-day hangover pain. It’s time to accept that I can no longer drink like I’m a student.

• Wrinkles – I turned 30 and poooff…. eye wrinkles suddenly appeared. This I do not like. My tools in the wrinkle battle include a decent eye cream, good concealer and the occasional early night. Expensive AND dull.

• A slowing metabolism – I’ve always been pretty lucky that I can generally eat what I like and not put much weight on but not anymore. I’m now acutely aware that if I want a slim, trim, toned bod, I’m actually going to have to work for it.

So… being 30 is certainly proving to be tricky and I’ve no doubt, that I’ve got more to learn in the months ahead. But having said that, it’s not all bad. In fact, I’m even beginning to like being 30.

My youth may offically be over but I still feel young enough to live it up. And although I’m still learning, I’ve got some experience to see me through. Put them together and you get a recipe for some very interesting times ahead :)

For those of you yet to hit the big 30, check out this blog for inspiration: http://www.30before30project.com (I’m already preparing my 40 things to do before 40 list)

And finally…. here’s wishing a lovely lady a very Happy 20-10 Birthday for tomorrow  :) x