I am taking a moment out to reflect on the past decade for here it is. 30. Well, tomorrow 30, today last day of my 20s. And much like the 1920s it has been a real rollercoaster ride.
I started my 20s at university, and reading my diary from that day I haven’t changed all that much - I still obsess over things in a very geeky way (except then I didn’t have the label for it); I still feel tired (although then it was a world weariness-tired of life melodrama and now it’s a physical manifestation of that); I still have this desperate need to write every little thing in my head.
There have been periods of high drama and appalling stillness. I have had the best of times and the worst of times - I have experienced all the extremes of emotions. I have tried to dig myself out of collapsed tunnels of misery using a tea spoon of hope and I have given up and given in to the blackest clouds and breathed in the earth.
I have met people who have reminded me what life is and have brought me back from the brink and I have met people who have sent me straight to the bottom of the pile.
I have learned valuable life lessons, so here are 5 10 20 things I have learnt during the past 3653 days.
- Never trust a man by his I.T. Skills - I used to assume good computer skills meant sensitive and ever so slightly insecure. No.
- A timetable means nothing to bus companies.
- It really is only a game but it sure feels like life and death.
- Never drink Jack Daniels in the same night that you are drinking Tequila.
- Never lend your copies of The West Wing Season 1 & 2 to anyone who is moving to Australia in 2 weeks time - not everyone will stay awake for nights on end to complete watching them.
- Don’t leave your diary out.
- Lightning really does strike twice and sometimes even more.
- Love is not the be-all and end-all, but it sure is nice.
- If a pair of shoes are uncomfortable the first and second times you wear them they are probably still going to be uncomfortable the third time.
- Hair straighteners are more trouble than they’re worth.
- You will lose touch with people if you don’t try to keep in contact.
- Life is not a rehearsal but when you write you get a second chance to get the scene right.
- Health issues should not be ignored.
- Your team winning the big match feels really really good.
- You don’t have to meet someone face to face to love them.
- Just because you think you should be good at something doesn’t mean you are but just because you aren’t good at something doesn’t mean you should stop doing it.
- No is a word you can use as often as yes; and it’s just as valid.
- Once you go Mac, you never go back.
- Decaff coffee really is pointless.
- If you don’t know - ask
There will of course be more, and I implore you to tell me the things you have/are learning, but I’m gonna be 30 in mere minutes, and of course all the answers and the maturity will hit me in a big wave and I will be able to see clearly… yes?
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Tags: 20s, getting older, things I've learnt
April 10th, 2008 at 12:35 am
Those are very wise words of wisdom….once you hit your 30’s, you’ll be redundant too ;).
I hope that your 30’sw bring you lots and lots of happiness and RO-MANCE!
Hilly’s last blog post..Virgins Always Get Backstage, No Matter What They’ve Got To Say….
April 10th, 2008 at 12:41 am
Hilly - Wise words? Hang on I got bits of wise before 30 - then what am I supposed to do for the next decade? Romance! Excellent plan!
Bec’s last blog post..Roaring 20s
April 10th, 2008 at 1:21 am
What an inspiring and thoughtfully considered list. I hope that in your 30s you can meet someone who will love you the way you deserve to be loved and that you write, write and write. Anyone who can come up with a beautiful sentence like this :”I have tried to dig myself out of collapsed tunnels of misery using a teaspoon of hope” is a writer in my book.
Happy Birthday, my dear. Even though you are 12 years younger than me (yes, I am THAT old) I feel you are someone I could be great friends with in the real world. Hope you get the chance to do something special on your birthday.
Much love xxx
Selma’s last blog post..I Wanna Be A Cowboy
April 10th, 2008 at 2:15 am
I have two years left to acquire wisdom like this.
I’m fucked.
Miss Britt’s last blog post..The Great Birthday Debate
April 10th, 2008 at 2:24 am
I agree with everything except #18.
I think the greatest lesson I’ve learned in my 30+25 years is, It is possible to lie without speaking.
Happy birthday, my lovely British blogfriend!
Simply Jane’s last blog post..Once, twice three times a virgin
April 10th, 2008 at 11:14 am
“You will lose touch with people if you don’t try to keep in contact.”
Something I should remember. But also something I wish a lot of my old friends would remember. Sometimes I feel like it’s always me who makes the effort in this respect.
Jo’s last blog post..A WHUCA Wednesday Tube Announcement
April 10th, 2008 at 2:18 pm
Mac??? Blasphemy. (Yeah, I know I’ve said it before. It’s still true.)
Avitable’s last blog post..The Sound of One Hand Fapping
April 10th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Happy Birthday Bec.
# 11 - I’m reading Dostoevsky’s The Idiot and yesterday read this great line, “As I had always been a rather gloomy person, my companions found it easy to forget me”.
April 10th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Enjoy that last day. Then you enter my realm… the THIRTIES!!!!!
kapgar’s last blog post..Go Speed Racer, go…
April 10th, 2008 at 11:26 pm
Selma - Thank you so much Selma, I hope that this is the year I get on with my writing and finish something. A lot of the time I just feel like I am playing at being a writer - no ‘Letters to a Young Poet’ certainty in me. Flashes of inspiration and all that. This year determination.
Ah, the ‘real world’ - sometimes the blogosphere feels more real to me than sitting on the bus and going to work everyday, and I totally feel the same.
Miss Britt - I wish I had half the wisdom you display on your blog every single post. Fucked? Not in the slightest.
Simply Jane - I totally agree with you about the lying without speaking - oh yes… and thank you! It is feeling better than I thought it would!
Jo - Yep, agree, but I have the moments of I am not doing anymore and then 3 years have gone by and I regret it. It’s one of the reasons I am liking Facebook - it’s let me make up for some of the nonsense.
Avitable - We all have our problems and insanities!
yorksdevil - Dostoevsky? I have Crime and Punishment on my shelf to make me look intellectual. At some point I will read it. Some point. And the line is totally true and very very depressing. It, funnily enough sounds like something Eeyore might say.
kapgar - No please don’t make me do it! Oh God! There it is! 30!!!! NOOOOO!!!!
Bec’s last blog post..Roaring 20s
April 11th, 2008 at 1:05 am
Happy Birthday, Bec! Hope it’s a fabulous day.
Karl’s last blog post..Where Karl Reveals One of His Larger Secrets
April 11th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Karl - thank you! Yes, a fabulous day it was!
Bec’s last blog post..No One Has To Die At 30!