13 Things I’ve Learned in my 30’s

This week marked 32 years of the world being graced with my presence. HA! Seriously though, I did celebrate a birthday this week and birthdays always cause me to reflect on what I’ve learned in the last year. So for this week’s blog post I have decided to share a few of my reflections for your amusement.

1. Laughter is the best medicine. There are times when you just need a good laugh. Life happens and sometimes you just have to laugh it off. (There’s no short supply of laughter here! In our Chamber office there is always some kind of entertainment.)
2. Sometimes less is more. I’ve learned that “more” of something is not always necessarily a good thing. The more clothes you have, the more laundry that has to be done (I personally am not a fan of doing laundry. I may even be guilty of having an extensive system of clean and dirty baskets from time to time) With bigger paychecks usually come bigger bills. More people=more opinions of how something should be done. Ok so you get the idea, sometimes keeping it simple is ideal. It’s ok not to have the most or the most extravagant. I’ll take fond memories over “fancy” things any day of the week.
3. Kids say the darndest things. Until my child turned 3 I do not think that I could really appreciate this statement. Of course everyone knows that kids are cute and yes, they say cute things! What I failed to realize until I was in my 30’s is that not EVERYTHING kids say or do is cute. Not everything kids say will even make ANY sense.
4. Everyone can’t be the best at everything, and that’s alright. As a young child my mother did her best to encourage me that I could do anything I wanted. I’m still not quite sure if I approve of this concept. To be honest, I like to think that I am an intelligent individual, but I was clearly not destined to fly a rocket ship or anything! In my 30’s I have come to learn to nurture and develop the talents I do possess and quit worrying so much about the things I suck at.
5. It’s ok to ask for help. Becoming a mom can make you feel like superwoman at times, you feel like you can do it all. (Other times you feel like an utter failure) Whether it’s possible to do it all yourself or not, life has taught me that asking for help isn’t a bad thing!
6. Happiness isn’t a state of being, it’s a state of mind. Simply put, if you decide to be happy then you will be.
7. I’m not “cool” anymore. As an aunt to three nieces and several nephews who range from first grade to college, I have come to accept that I am now officially not “hip.” I no longer peruse the junior clothing section and find it nearly impossible to keep up with the countless number of three-letter acronyms, but I’m perfectly okay with that.
8. Coffee makes ANY day better. I never was much of a coffee drinker before I entered my 30’s. Yet now I must admit that I find myself in the kitchen in my pajamas with squinted eyes making my morning pot religiously.
9. My mom is actually pretty awesome. After passing the threshold of 30 and becoming a parent myself, I have realized that maybe my mom wasn’t the one that was so horrible to begin with! Quite possibly I may have just been a little rotten myself (Ok, so maybe a lot rotten, but we live and learn right?!)
10. My opinion of myself is more important than anyone else’s. The mentality of caring what other people think is drilled into you in high school for whatever dumb reason. I think it’s not until around 30 that you truly realize the pointlessness of other people’s opinions of you.
11. Being from a small-town ain’t really all that bad. Growing up I couldn’t wait to leave my hometown. Like most of my friends, I planned to leave and never return. Now that I am “all grown-up” (LOL, yeah right) I have realized that it’s actually a pretty great place to call home.
12. Giving is TOTALLY better than receiving. Ok so that’s kinda corny, but nonetheless true. I’m much happier making someone else smile than I am spoiling myself. Not so sure if my 20 year old self would agree with that statement, so I guess I can call that progress.
13. Being in your 30’s is a gazillion times better than being in your 20’s. Your twenties are for continuing to make those stupid mistakes everyone does as a young person. I may be wrong (ask me again in 10 years) but I’m pretty sure that my 30’s are my real time to shine.

-Molly O’Hearon, Public Information Assistant for the Chamber/CVB

The Right Blend Blog is written by three different authors employed by the Liberty County Chamber/CVB. As we are able, we rotate weeks and each write about our individual experiences, opinions and let our writing reflect our personalities and creativity. All content provided on The Right Blend blog is for informational purposes only. The owner of this blog makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or found by following any link on this site.