(Courtesy of the author)
Fifty is the new 40, while 40 is the new 30, and 30 is the new 20. And 20 is what we're told we should all want to be.
All the headlines scream it.
I am 37. And guess what?
I don’t want 37 to be the new 27. I want 37 to be exactly just that, 37.
Don’t get me wrong. Twenty-seven was a beautiful time in my life. We were happily married (still are, 10 years later, so thank you, Lord). We had a precious little kindergartner for a son; the most adorable newborn for a daughter (a millionaire’s family, I was once told). And we lived in the quaintest little white home on a hill (cherry trees, picket fence, and all).
Heather and her husband Tony on the night of her wedding. (Dean Peckford)
It was, and still is, one of the sweetest moments of my life to date. I truly loved 27, and everything that it gave me.
But I don’t want to be 27 again.
Rather I’m excited for what 37 will bring, and all the years to come here after. I’m anticipating all the lovely things that the Lord has planned for me. .
Heather and her husband Tony. (Courtesy of the author)
Why do we feel the need to go backwards? Why do we feel like we left all the good things behind? Why do we feel the urge to make our lives the ‘new’ anything, other than what it is?
What if we instead allowed ourselves to believe that we are living the good old days right now? Ladies and gentlemen, whether you find yourself reading this in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s (and so on), I advise you to take joy in the very moment that we are in.
What if we just allowed ourselves to live for now? Without looking back? Without comparing to the past?
Hear me when I say this: You have navigated waters to get to where you are. Be proud of that. You have fought battles. Some were easy; some not so much. You have lessons learned tucked away in your back pocket, with a handful of grit in one hand, and a fistful of tenacity in the other.
You have earned the very place that you find yourself in. You are in the very place where God intended you to be. During all those moments of growth, He meant for you to be right here, right now.
And He didn’t walk you through all of that for you to wish you could go back a decade in time.
You are more than what you were a decade ago. So much more. Celebrate what you’ve been through, what you’ve walked through, and what you’ve fought through.
Celebrate where you are. And how you got here.
So let’s do just that, shall we? Celebrate where we are?
Let’s make 30 the new 30, 40 the new 40, and 50 the new 50.
Your age is where you are exactly meant to be. Nothing more. And certainly nothing less.
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