“I always told myself that by 30 I would be mature, take life more seriously and get my act together. For me, my 20’s was all about enjoying my freedom, having fun, taking risks and doing what I wanted. Maybe that’s why, when I look back, I don’t have any regrets. During those years I learnt a great deal about life, which has shaped my 30’s.
Now that I have reached my 30’s, I don’t let age define my milestones or limit my life. These days society has a strong influence on what people should have achieved based on their age and with it comes a lot of contradictory advice;‘10 things you should and should not do in your 30’s’. I take the advice that best suits me. What may have worked for some people may not work for me, everybody is different, which brings me to my next point.
Everybody is different, so different experiences happen to each of us at different points in our life. Some of my friends started their careers at 20, while others started at 40. We all have our own individual time and pace. In my 30’s I’ve realised that it really doesn’t matter how long you take to achieve your goals. Everybody has their own unique value to offer. It may take years to discover your own, but it’s definitely there.
Nowadays I’m more selective with how I spend my time. There are plenty of things you can lose and get back in life, but time is something you can never recover so use it wisely. I don’t rush through life and wish it away like I did before. When I was younger, I couldn’t wait to finish school, go to university and work. Now I’ve learnt to enjoy where I am.”
Last year I embarked on a project to photograph 30 women and share their story about being in their 30’s. I am yet to complete all 30 as I had to go and push out my baby boy. Baby boy has been born so I am now resuming the project and will be sharing their stories here until then.
All the stories will be published in a book next year and all profits of the sales will be donated to Beyond Blue :)
This is Vickie’s story.
Sx
