20 Things to Know Before You're 30. I can finally say goodbye to my twenties. I’m
happy to say it’s been a good run. But if I’m
completely honest, I feel a sense of grief
coupled with excitement. I am sad for the
years that have passed. They’ve gone by so fast.
And I haven’t been able to slow them down.
But more, I’m filled with excitement. It has
been an adventure, to be sure, and I’ve had the
privilege of watching God at work in my life in
so many ways. I’m excited to see what the next
years hold.
THERE ARE MANY THINGS I KNOW AT 30 THAT I
DIDN’T KNOW AT 20.
I’ve had the chance to reflect on the past 10
years of my life, and I realized there are many
things I know at 30 that I didn’t know at 20.
1. Time is limited, so invest it in things that
matter. I remember the days of wasting my
time away on meaningless things. Now that I’m
older, I see that my time is valuable and
limited.
2. Say no to one-way friendships. Not only is
it important to use your time wisely, it’s crucial
to spend it with people that care. So much of
our time is wasted on superficial friendships
and obligations. Invest in people who are worth
investing in.
3. It doesn’t matter what people think of
you, and you can’t please everyone. Often,
your twenties are defined by living a roller
coaster life, allowing the choices and decisions
of others affect you rather than taking control
of your own life. It’s sad to say that so many
years are spent defining yourself by others,
instead of for the sake of who God has called
you to be.
4. Life is more expensive than you think it
is. This life lesson isn’t fun. But it’s amazing how
much $100 seems to a 20-year-old, and how
little it seems to a 30-year-old. As you get
older, you learn to really see the value of
money and how to spend and use it wisely.
5. Being healthy matters. You realize you’re
no longer invincible when the aches and pains
begin to slowly creep into your life. And it only
gets worse—or so I hear. Learn to appreciate
your health, and to be more proactive about
taking it seriously.
6. Joy can come from unexpected places. So
many things that may have never seemed fun
in my younger years have taken on a whole
new meaning. As life gets more complicated,
you learn to take more joy in the simple
things.
7. You should value your parents. You will
make the same mistakes as they did. The
older you get, the more you realize your own
flaws, and it helps you have grace for the flaws
of others. We’ve all gotten to that moment
where we realize that in so many ways we are
just like our parents.
8. You’re not stuck. By God’s grace, you get to
choose how you will live. You don’t have to
repeat patterns, and you’re not paralyzed to a
certain mold.
9. Your decisions affect more people than
just yourself. There’s a ripple effect, and it
gets clearer with each passing year. When
you’re young and single, this can sometimes be
hard to see, but as you grow up, you cease to
be on center stage and you see that life is all
about the big picture, and you are a small but
important piece in it.
10. Your words have a lot of power, so be
careful what you say. From writing a blog post
to saying a kind word, from a thoughtless
comment to a negative remark, I’ve seen first
hand how powerful words can be. They can
build up and they can destroy. You learn to be
more careful with how you use the words you
have been given. They have the power to
change lives.
11. Forgiveness is worth the hard work.
More than ever, you see how much an
unforgiving spirit impacts your life in a
negative way, and how letting go has so much
more to do with you than with others.
12. Success in life means so much more than
what you thought it would. My definition of
success has drastically changed for the better.
My friendships, family and faith have taken on
a whole new meaning within the definition of
success. God has changed my heart over the
years, and with it, what I define as my
treasures.
13. Worry doesn’t really change your future.
I wish I could have learned this way sooner,
and wish I could prevent relapses. But by God’s
grace, I want to continue to walk with more
faith than fear.
14. There’s so much more to your identity
than you ever imagined. Physical appearance
is a small fraction of who you are. Hopefully
this is something you learned early on, because
as you learn to accept your body and your
appearance you find there is so much freedom
in that. And along those lines, gray hairs aren’t
so bad after all. They’re actually kind of cute,
once you get used to them. Well, we’ll see how
we feel about that by 40.
15. You’ve made a lot of mistakes, and you
will make many more. But you learn to
forgive yourself and move on.
16. Life doesn’t always turn out how you
expect. But it still turns out just right. I know
so many things have not happened on my time
frame nor in the way I expected them to. But
looking back, God’s time frame was so much
better than mine. I’m learning to trust that He
is good and that He really knows best.
LIFE DOESN’T ALWAYS TURN OUT HOW YOU
EXPECT. BUT IT STILL TURNS OUT JUST RIGHT.
17. Those doors closed for a reason. I look
back at the failures and disappointments in my
life now, and I am so thankful for those closed
doors and broken roads. God knew then what I
know now. And I’m so glad He did.
18. God is bigger than you could have ever
imagined. And I’m so thankful He is.
19. Wisdom is really a gift from God. And
something that you have to ask for now just as
much as ever.
20. There is still so much to learn. I have
learned so much about myself over the past
few years, and I’ve learned that there’s so much
more to be learned. Like the old saying goes,
the more you know, the more you know you
don’t know.