My Next Thirty Years

I love the song, In My Next Thirty Years, by Tim McGraw.

I first heard this song when I was 28. 30 was just over the horizon and even though I tried not to let on that it bothered me, 30 was a huge deal. Hell, when I was 20, I thought 30 was a lifetime away. But here I was, about to reach that lifetime. Needless to say, it hit me hard.

Hearing this song made me sit up and look at my life and what I’d been doing. Was I where I wanted to be? Had I done everything I wanted to do?

The answer was crystal clear after only a few seconds. No. I had not done the things I’d dreamed about as a young girl. To be perfectly honest, I hadn’t even done the things I’d dreamed about a month earlier.

So, what I found myself doing was sitting down and writing a book. Just one simple goal I wanted to check off the list. Little did I know how much that one little step would change my life. I’d found my passion with writing and I’d found a sense of relief with checking off this one small line on my list of goals.

Since then, I’ve accomplished a few other things I said I wanted to do, such as skydiving. This was a complete hoot. Especially since I did it right when it was getting ready to snow. The feeling of those ice crystals hitting me in the face as I fell to the ground was exhilarating. Again, checking the goal off of my list was just as big of a high as the actual jump.

I bring this up now because I’m currently working on another goal I’d set for myself when I was a teenager. I have always wanted to run a marathon. Why? Back then it sounded pretty darn cool. Now, it seems like a lot of hard work for one day. But it’s the journey getting there that I’m looking forward to and of course the checking off of another goal. After a stagnant year of little to no exercise, I’m slowly taking steps to accomplish this. Yesterday I walked a mile at the local high school track. Today, I walked another mile – in the rain. Pretty darn good first steps in my book. And not only did I feel good after exercising, I felt great about myself for jumping a hurdle (the rain) that could have easily kept me from going out today.

We all have these types of issues, no matter how old we are or which set of thirty we’re in. I’ve shared a bit of mine and I’d love it if you would share some of the things you hope to accomplish in your next thirty years.