Thirty seems to be a magic age to all of those underneath it. Once you turn 30, all of your ish will be figured out, you'll be financially secure, married with 2.5 kids, etc., etc. Lots of bloggers have a thirty by thirty list where in they must complete a certain amount of things before they turn 30. Before I hit the big 3-0, I know I was very nervous about it, worrying that people would think I was was weird for my current life choices, that I had not accomplished enough in my life, etc. In order to make myself feel better, I made a list of 30 things I have accomplished by age 30 instead of dwelling on all of the things I haven't done. I found this to be much more productive and positive.
1. Lived in France
2. Lived in Amsterdam, The Netherlands
3. Lived in Budapest, Hungary
4. Lived in the UK
5. Lived in New York City
6. Lived completely on my own
7. Adopted a dog (whom I still love and care for!)
8. Earned an MA in Educational Theatre
9. Earned an MA in History
10. Got accepted to a PhD program
11. Traveled to Poland, which had always been one of my dreams
12. Wrote a novel and published it
13. Wrote a second novel and published it
14. Actually made money writing what I want to write
15. Taught high school
16. Taught writing classes to students
17. Produced a play I wrote
18. Became very adept at making friends in all sorts of situations
19. Learned to rely on myself
20. Stretched my taste buds, only if a little
21. Did things that scared me, like going on a roller coaster
22. Took chances on people and situations, even though some of them didn't work out
23. Made a friend from most countries in Europe
24. Fought on in life, despite having lupus SLE
25. Completed a BA in French, even if my French is a bit rusty now
26. Met someone I really feel comfortable with, which signifies how comfortable I feel in myself
27. Paid my rent from book sales (that was a big one!)
28. Carved out a nice little niche for myself professionally
29. Read about a million novels
30. Secured a literary agent
What things have you done that you're most proud of?
I like this a lot. Way better than reading to-do list- it's nice to hear you being proud of what you HAVE accomplished :) You've sure done a lot! I'm scared to say 30 is closer than I'd like and I don't even want to think about it- I'm still living my life like I'm gonna be 20 haha.
ReplyDeleteAww thank you! 30 isn't bad, although sometimes I still wonder how I'm this old. :p
DeleteThis is a great idea :) Very inspiring way to look at your life.
ReplyDelete~Gianni~
Thanks :)
DeleteThat is a great idea! I am never going to complete my 30 before 30 list. Bah.
ReplyDeleteNo one ever is...it seems like a way to make you feel badly about yourself!
DeleteThat's such a positive way to look at things doing it the other way round! And wow, i'm honestly so jealous that you got to live in Budapest! I only got to spend a few days in Budapest when I travelled to Europe with school but Hungary is such a beautiful country with such lovely people and food oh my gosh! What did you think about living there? x
ReplyDeleteThank you, Peyton! I have to say, it was an EXPERIENCE. For a Westerner, Eastern European cultures are very different and Budapest was a huge culture shock. However, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. x
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