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Thirty Nine Lessons From Thirty Nine Years
A birthday reflection
Today is my 39th birthday. Saying that feels weird. Uncomfortable. Like it doesn’t fit.
Why do I feel like that? I think of the past few years, from 35 to now, as a sort of transition period — out of being a young person, the only identity I’d known up to that point, one that felt permanent, part of my very being — in to middle age, which for me feels like it starts at 40.
Getting older is hard. It’s a reminder that you no longer have that seemingly unlimited time ahead of you, a blank slate of a life to do whatever you please with.
It’s also a blessing. Not just that you’ve gotten to be alive longer every day, but you’re getting to LIVE longer every day, replacing the vast emptiness of that unlimited time with life experiences.
Over the past 39 years I’ve learned a few things, though I know I still have so much more I don’t know. I’m not an expert. I’m still quite young in the grand scheme of things. Some of these lessons might be completely invalid in ten years.
But I can only be as old as I am, so here are 39 things I’ve learned over the past 39 years.
- Chase your dreams or they’ll chase you — they don’t just go away.
- Don’t dress rehearse failure. I’ll probably write a…
