The joy of getting older

Well it is the eve of my 33rd birthday and in true me style I am beside myself with excitement. I am sitting in my living room with presents and cards around the place and it is taking all the self-control I have not to just rip all the gorgeous shiny wrapping paper off. As anybody who knows me will know, I absolutely love birthdays. I love getting presents, I like seeing lots of people that I love, I enjoy getting spoilt, actually the list of things I enjoy about birthdays is endless.

Plus I have come to the conclusion that I am loving my 30's. I enjoyed my 20's but feel that my 30's have definitely been the best years so far. Things I love about being in my 30's:

1.I have learnt to say no
In my 20's I spent a lot of time doing things that I didn't really want to do. Going to places I didn't want to go and just generally pleasing other people more than I pleased myself. I've found that in my 30's I do this much less and for all my worries previously nobody has actually fallen out with me about it and I find that the things I do do I get much more enjoyment from.

2.Less body issues
In my teens and 20's I had a whole world of body issues. Bum and boobs too big, hair too wild, worrying that I had a bump in my nose (I still think this exists but nobody else can see it). In my 30's yes my boobs and bum are still too big (in my opinion) but I accept it, go to the gym and work on them but most importantly I've learnt to live with them and even like them a bit.

3.Knowing what I want
In my 20's I went out with some real unsavoury characters. In my 30's, when it comes to love I am not as willing to negotiate. I know what I want and have realised that in love some things aren't negotiable such as being honest, faithful, kind and having the ability to make me laugh. Areas that I am now willing to negotiate on that I wasn't in the past are, it's not important for a man to be the hottest man in the room especially if has nothing to say and that a six pack is nice but it won't make you laugh until you cry.

4.Not minding staying in on a Saturday
I used to hate staying in on a Saturday night. I had a constant feeling that I was missing something, after years of wasting money on rubbish nights out, I am now happy to just go out when I want to and if Saturday night is sometimes X-Factor, pizza and ice-cream then that's just fine with me.

5.Not caring what people think so much
I used to want everybody to like me, whether it was people I worked with, friends of friends, people's parents absolutely everyone. I also used to worry what people thought about the choices I made whether it be about men I chose to date or clothes I chose to wear. In my 30's I can honestly say I don't really care. Yes, I still want people to like me but, I'm not overly bothered if they don't and I have realised that I don't need everybody to agree with every decision I make, in fact I usually don't even need too much of their input as I do exactly what I want anyway.


So on that note I am going to sign off and look forward to celebrating being 33 and for all those people who don't like birthdays as they don't like getting older just relax and enjoy all the things you learn with each year. Plus, if you think about it, as much as you might not like getting older the alternative is a whole lot worse.