Signs of Aging ;)

Around ten months ago, a few days before my 30th birthday, my cousin shared with me a wise piece of advice about growing a year older. She said: "Don't worry about turning 30, its going to be pretty much painless". Ending the years of being in my 20's didn't sting so much, although it somehow brought me different waves of realizations. I realized that I did not just complete a whole year, but I was about to complete a whole decade, ready to cross over to the next. And that's a huge deal. At least that's how I felt. However, though I knew that this is going to cause several ripples of emotions and realizations, I still shared the same piece of advice to a good friend who is going to celebrate her 30th birthday in a few weeks. I told her with much confidence, "Its going to be painless".

It got me thinking what the experience of turning 30 actually does to a person. Particularly to a single person. I realized that its like the time when I turned 13 or something like going through a second tier "adolescent" stage, an experience that is partly awkward, and partly life changing. Its partly awkward since traditional society norm has included this age in the range of marrying age. And yet unfortunately, I'm far from that phase or at least that's what I think. However, the good thing about this phase is that, it is also revolutionary in sense that the wisdom that I picked up from the people, experiences, places, and life lessons that I encountered in the last 30 years of my life has prepared me for the crossing over experience. I may not have another human hand to hold as I go through this, but I know that I should not fear anything for I will never be alone.

My friends and I were fondly and having a little laugh over the "signs of aging". Signs like:
1) You prefer tea over coffee while having a quiet and calming conversations with good friends over rowdy parties,
2) You prefer to read a good book than go strolling in the mall (although shopping may still sound good from time to time :D ),
3) You prefer to spend time and money on new experiences and adventures over spending money on some nice new shiny gadget (which will be obsolete before you even had the chance to actually learn its full functionality),
4) You would refer to family members, friends, colleagues who are in their teens or early 20's "mga bata", and they refer to you as "Ate" /"Kuya",  "Ma'am" / "Sir" and if they have kids, you are "Tito" / "Tita", "Ninong" /"Ninang" and
5) You actually grew interest in things that would have bore you to tears just a few years back like accounting, taxation, politics, current local and foreign news updates, mutual funds, treasury bonds, stock market investing, and goodness, growing your retirement fund.

And probably for those who are married and have kids, additional signs would be change in priorities, putting your budding new family, particularly your spouse and kid/s on top of the list. And that's ok. Just goes to show that wisdom really does come with age, we slowly learn what (and who) is really important.

There's one more thing that got emphasized (though it started years before), another sign of aging...
You would start to question if there is more to all of these. At least for me it got me thinking how I could bring my life more meaning and purpose. Earlier on, my heart and spirit was touched and had been prepared for this, but because of my ten million excuses, I was moving slowly. Though brought up in a Christian, church-going family, it was only during my early 20's when I got to know who my God really is. All my life, I know that the Lord of my family is Jesus Christ, but it was only at that God-appointed time that it was revealed to me the truth about Him. And I will be forever grateful for that day and turning point. And as I live through another decade, living through my 30's (if  I don't say it well enough in this post haha), I know that my life should not be wasted by not doing anything constructive to advance His Kingdom. And I don't mean this in an overly religious kind of way. I'd like this to be a practical application of sharing physical help and spiritual nourishment. I know that there's more to advancing in years if we share our life with people from different walks of life, just for the sake of sharing and helping, without expecting anything in return.

God bless the hearts of those who started much earlier, your wisdom is well beyond your years.

Thank you "signs of aging", you've been a good friend for telling the truth. :)