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Well, this is it. I turn 30 this week. My twenties are officially over. Rather than wallowing in self-pity or writing a post about how this is actually awesome because everyone keeps telling me my 30s will be better than my 20s, I’m just going to focus on my list.
Six months ago I decided that I wasn’t going to let 30 come and go without a little fanfare. So I made a 30 Before 30 list: 30 things I wanted to accomplish before I turned 30. With only six months to go, my list wasn’t very ambitious. On the other hand, it was pretty damn ambitious. I practiced forgiveness, climbed a mountain, faced one of my biggest fears, got an article published, sang karaoke solo, took up the piano again, and started a team that funded over 30 microfinance loans through Kiva, among others.
I didn’t finish everything on the list, but I came pretty close. Some of the things that I put on the list those short six months ago I subsequently determined weren’t really that important to me. So I’m not going to do those. Some of them are very important to me, but I just need a little more time. It doesn’t really matter that I didn’t finish the list. The things I did accomplish were amazing.
And more importantly, life doesn’t end at 30. (Surprise!) The things I didn’t finish will just have to go on another list. A list that I will have much more time to work on. A 40 Before 40 list!! I’m working on putting that list together and I’ll post it when I do. In the meantime, here’s the 30 Before 30 list in all its glory.
- Finish Project 52 [NO]
- Do 30 Days of Truth [NO]
- Audit a science class [40 Before 40]
- Take a hot air balloon ride [40 Before 40]
- Get a new tattoo [40 Before 40]
- Write a novel [40 Before 40]
- Fund 30 Kiva loans
- Submit something to be published
Learn Photoshop- Get something published
- Go somewhere I’ve never been before
- Climb a 14K
- Forgive someone
- Find my go-to Karaoke song
- Master one yoga pose
- Do a cleanse
- Go to an opera
- Master a difficult song on the piano
- Find a good place to volunteer and start volunteering
- Start composting
- Print photo albums
- Learn how to use camera in manual mode
- Do something that terrifies me
- Write a business plan
- Do something fun for my 30th birthday
- Paint a picture
- Watch the Godfather movies
- Purchase a very expensive, staple item of clothing/accessory
- Get a facial
- Forgive myself
Well done! That was a hefty list and you knocked most of it out. I’m impressed! I’m glad you gave yourself permission to throw out the ones that didn’t matter and put more time into the ones that mattered most (or that you just didn’t have time to get around to… either way).
This is awesome Sara. Nice work!
I’d say that is an impressive effort. And I’d like to know what the expensive staple clothing item was!! That’s definitely on my 40 before 40 list of things.