In my twenties, I was cruising down the freeway of life. I was going to conquer this world… until splat! I hit a windscreen. Suddenly, I found myself over thirty with a bucket full of unaccomplished dreams and I felt surprisingly demotivated.
“After all, if you haven’t made it by thirty in this modern day and age, you may as well give it up and step aside for the next generation of go-getters, because you’re clearly past it, sister!” said an errant voice inside my head.
Yes, I’m afraid I was having a mid-life crisis of sorts. You see, my career hasn’t progressed quite like I thought it would; I’m not the best-selling author I envisaged as yet and… wait for it… I’m still single, which makes me the unsuspecting victim of every woman out there who wants to set me up with her son, nephew, friend, distant cousin twice removed, latest divorcee on the block or neighbour (who she hasn’t realised is actually gay). I kid you not. Been there, done that… ad nauseam!
Not to mention that the pace of life is insane these days. It’s go, go, go, busy, busy all the time and there just never seems to be enough hours in the day. Quite frankly, it’s exhausting!
I once saw a quote by Albert Schweitzer that hit a nerve. It said:
“The great secret to success is to go through life as a person who never gets used up.”
And, that’s how I was starting to feel at thirty. Sadly, ‘used up’.
In hindsight, it’s a comforting thought to know that this feeling is no doubt universal. There must be plenty of people in the world who feel like this at one point or another. I can’t speak for men, because I’m not one, but as a woman, it sometimes feels as though life’s demands are overwhelming – especially when you mistakenly think you’re in it alone. And, I know many of my female friends feel the same. We are wives, mothers, daughters, sisters, aunts, friends, businesswomen, students, teachers, cooks, cleaners, caretakers, homemakers, taxi drivers, laundromats, etcetera – and somewhere in between all that we still have to fit in time for health, exercise and beauty. It’s no wonder there’s hardly any ‘me time’.
Honestly, at thirty, I felt somewhat redundant; past my prime – like a woman from the eighteenth century who isn’t married by thirty and is, therefore, now an old maid. Although, technically, you were considered an old maid if you weren’t married by your twenties, so that would make me a really old maid.
And, then a beautiful thing happened. I turned thirty-one and a kind of wisdom dawned on me and I decided that I’m so over it!
There was no need to be so serious about everything. I didn’t have to sweat the small stuff anymore. Life was good and I could make it good. I just had to let it all go and stop being such a control freak.
And, suddenly, my slogan in life for just about everything these days is ‘I’m so over it’. Work issues? I’m so over it. Judgemental people? I’m sooo over it. Stress? Ditto.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I don’t care, because I do. I still want a promising career and prince charming in my life. I’ve just decided to change my perspective a bit. I’m not going to worry, fret and stress about the minor details anymore. My life is what it is – and I’m actually happy with that. Who knew!? Sure, it’s not perfect, and there are some things I’d like to change or improve, but I’ve done alright for a woman who didn’t grow up with a silver spoon in her mouth – and I’m content with that.
So what if I’m over thirty. This truly is the prime of my life and the world is still my oyster. In fact, I’m just getting started.
So, life can rain lemons for all I care. And forget the lemonade. I’m bringing out my inner tequila, cause I’m so over it!
Audrey Whyte 
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