Reflecting on 30 Years

Today, I turn 31 years old.  Last year, I was nervous about leaving my 20s and entering into a new decade.  I had set a lot of expectations for myself in my 20s and I was nervous about acknowledging what I fell short on.  But, what I failed to recognize about this reflection was I would get to see what I did accomplish.

When I was in 8th grade, I created a list of life goals and kept them beside my bed.  Each year, I would tweak or amend my goals.  I found this to be something I looked forward to every year, but when I was 20, I set my professional goals for my 20s.  My goals included being teacher of the year for the state of North Carolina.  I assumed I would be a social studies teacher until I retired.  When I reflected last year, I would have never anticipated that I would have left the classroom to accept leadership positions in public education.   I never anticipated meeting DG, owning a house, opportunities for travel, and the friendships I would form in my 20s.  Read the 20 things I learned in my 20s here.  It was a really humbling reflection for last year and I entered my 30s feeling grateful, excited, and ready to take on a new decade.

My goals for my 30s were a lot more open ended and honestly, I like it better that way.  It was a perfect way to set a focus for this next season of life, without being so specific.  One thing I learned from my goals in my 20s were that things I cared about at 20 were completely irrelevant to my life at 25 or 26.

In reflecting on my first year in my new decade, it was a doozy.  I was proud of the success and growth the team I worked with saw in my job, DG and I sold our first house and bought a house on a little land (and David bought it without me seeing it since I was in Tampa), I got a new job supporting 15 schools, we got to travel to two cities our our travel list for the year, among other day to day victories we saw.  It was year that was not met without trials and tribulations, though.  My grandmother passed away in the summer, I had a couple of disappointing outcomes in December, in addition to a few other personal struggles throughout the year.  However, I love using those as learning experiences and reflections.

I am looking forward to another year around the sun and am excited about what this year holds.  I know I have said this a lot recently, but I appreciate the love and support you offer me over here on this space.  Follow along on Instagram to see how I’ll be celebrating my 31st birthday this weekend.

xx

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