*RE-POST* –> HAPPY 30th TO MY CLIENT, M.B.! xxo

So this seems to be the year that many of my hip, hot, and happenin’ amigas are turning 30. Some are excited and are embracing the new decade with wide open arms, and others… well others want to bid adieu to their 20’s like they want a hole in the head. So I set out to figure out what it is about turning 30 that has them freaking out (besides the obvious reasons like loose hanging skin that — I swear — appeared overnight, new wrinkles around the eyes that never used to be there when I smiled, and an alcohol tolerance that went from 10 to 2 in seemingly a matter of months) and these are some of the common thoughts I kept hearing:

• “Life has not progressed how I planned.”
• “I always thought that I’d be married/have 2.5 kids/own a house/make partner/fill-in-the-blank by the time I turned 30. I don’t have that stuff, so I’m behind/I’ve failed/I suck/etc.”
• “Everyone else has it together by 30.”
• “30 is old.”
• “Well now I’m 30, so I have to get serious and buckle down.” (translation: stop having fun and turn boring)
• “Now it’s too late to ______ (pursue my dream or passion).”
• “I haven’t achieved as much as everyone else my age.”
• “I thought I’d be more advanced in my career by now.”
• “I thought I’d be financially stable by now.”
• “I thought Prince or Princess Charming would have arrived by now.”

Ugh enough. You get the point.

These are the very thoughts that are making my amigas miserable. They are anxious. They are sad. They feel like failures.

So here’s the deal. We draft carefully composed plans. Things are supposed to fall into place on OUR timeline. When WE say. When WE think is the “right” time.

But that’s not how it works. Things fall into place when we least expect. When we are having too much fun loving ourselves to even notice. When we are LIVING.

For your birthday, I’m giving you peace.

Peace can be found in the simple fact that we are exactly where we need to be at this moment.

Your life has unfolded perfectly and will continue to do so. Perfectly for you. Every person fulfills their purpose when the time is right. What is in store for you is even better than what you’ve imagined. This, I know to be true.

What you deem a postponement of progress may actually represent an auspicious opportunity to prepare for what is yet to come. The delays that dissapoint you may be laying the foundation for a future that you have not yet conceived. Move with the flow of your life rather than pushing against it. Don’t judge yourself, be kind and gentle. Don’t judge your successes and failures, relish in them. Don’t measure how far you’ve come, look at how far you are going.

Live.

So welcome to your 30’s. Put your party dress on.

Because 30 is the new whatever-the-hell you want it to be.