It was my birthday earlier this week. I am now 32 years old.
I don’t consider myself older in any aspect than 10 years ago. Okay, maybe I do. Now that I think about it, 10 years ago I was crazier, I had never imagined I would settle down, and, why not, my skin was firmer back then. So yes, I do consider myself older nowadays.
Funnily enough, 10 years ago I used to think of someone in their thirties as really old. Maybe because back then, all the people I knew in their thirties already has settled down, had a mortgage, full time jobs, had married and kids were on their way. That was the conception I had of being old. And that is the description of who I am today. But people change their mind and perceptions tend to change as well as time goes by, and I no longer would consider someone in their 30s as old. To be completely honest, the best part of life has just started!
Okay, many people think that the best decade is your 20s. Mmmm.. It could be so. Depending on who you are and how life treated you, during this period of your life you probably experienced lots of freedom (leaving mum and dad’s house to go live on your own, probably at university), you probably had lots of crazy relationships and fell in and out of love a thousand times. You probably felt as nobody could touch you and you were better than anyone else. Lots of friends, lots of bars, lots of beers, lots of music, lots of concerts, lots of journeys, lots of late nights, lots of not being resposible enough, lots of “I don’t care”s, and lots of “I’ll do it tomorrow”s.
And then, one day, maturity knocks on your door. It may come in the shape of your ideal job, the one that you enjoy and care about. The one that gives you the money to do what you want, but the kind of money that you feel that you’ve “earned” and you’re more careful about spending it. Maturity may also come in the form of a lover. The one person who makes you realise that perfect doesn’t exist and understands even the most ridiculous aspects of yourself. Your better half. Your soulmate. The person you would follow to the end of the planet. It may also come in different and unexpected forms and shapes. Music, books, films. Little things that you would have simply not understood 10 years ago.
And one day, you wake up and realise that you’ve grown and matured. But you don’t care in the slightest, don’t care about the downsides of age because you know that you’re happy and everything is just right for you the way it is.
I’m stealing this Mark Twain’s quote from somewhere else, because I love it!:
Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don´t mind, it doesn´t matter
On a lighter and less philosophical note, Jon took me for dinner to Benihana in London for dinner to celebrate my birthday. I must say that I loved it, although it wasn’t as good as the Tepanyaki that we had in the cruise in Hawaii. It makes me want to go to Japan more and more, but I know that it won’t happen any time soon 
You know you’ve been too long in the UK when… »« An Obituary printed in the London Times
