Do milestone birthdays depress you/not faze you?

[krystee]

I turn 30 tomorrow. I am not phased about getting older (I don't consider 30 old whatsoever), but it freaks me the eff out how fast time is flying by. It feels like I got married about two years ago, but it was actually six.

And I think something is horrifically wrong with me because I'll think, "Wow, Mom is 53. If she lives to 80, that means we only have 27 more Christmases together. Holy shit, we've had more Christmases in the past than are still left in the future." Yet, I recognize that 27 years is a very nice amount of time and some people would KILL to have 27 more years with a parent (not that I'm guaranteed she'll be here 27 more years; I'm just trying to make myself feel better). Do those kinds of thought patterns mean I'm crazy, or have you had morbid thoughts too?

EDITED to change phase to faze. Oops.

[FishChicks]

I suppose this could change at any moment, but I still look forward to the milestones. At least for now, I'm really happy with where I'm at, and I see the "remaining" years as pretty abundant. Having said that, I highly doubt you're alone in your thoughts, I'm probably the one with my head in the sand.

[Deleted]

I don't mind being 30 either. I'm kind of glad to have my 20's behind me.

But I spend more time than I'd like to think about worrying about people/my dogs dying. In thinking about the next decade of my life, I thought about all the cool stuff to look forward to but also got all sad that it is almost certain that by my 40th birthday my dogs will be dead and so will my grandparents (although it is possibly they won't be! Let's hope!) :-(

I don't know if we're "normal" but that's definitely the stuff that scares me about getting older.

[mbcdefg]

I'll be 30 next fall.

I have mixed emotions ... on the one hand, the idea of a trip to Europe with some close friends has been tossed around. On the other hand, we said we would start talking seriously about TTC once we turn 30 and that's scary, especially since we're still not quite sure of what we want.

Personal milestones and birthdays don't bug me all that much. The thing that gets to me is my dad ... he's had health problems in recent years and had some more serious issues within the past few months, and it's really taken a toll on him. He's just looking feeble lately and just seems like an old man. Meanwhile, he's 57 and his brothers who are 65 and 70 look and feel fantastic. It's just really hit home for me recently that he's not going to be around forever.

[mx27]

i totally embraced 30. haven't given much thought to 35 or 40.

[Deleted]

30 didn't phase me. I turned 31 Tuesday and that is freaking me out for some reason. I think the speedy passage of time scares me a lot too. Like what if time goes even faster. I feel like it's been a blink since I was 18.

[Deleted]

Such things do not faze me.

[y4m]

Happy birthday, birthday twin

[krystee]

Happy birthday, y4m! Hope it's a great one!

[steph96]

I'm more freaked out about the thought that when my mom was my age, she had already been married for 5-6 years, had a miscarriage, and had just given birth to my sibling. I can't imagine being in her shoes. There is no way I am ready for that at this age.

Other than that, I'm not really phased by it. Maybe I will be once I hit 40. That seems like the first "big" birthday milestone to me.

[pantsparty]

30 did not faze me at all. I was glad to be out of my 20's.

I agree sometimes it's weird to look at my own parents and think where they were at when they were my age. I think they had 3 kids? Holy crap. No.

[krystee]

I just noticed I used the wrong faze (phase). I am embarrassed.

[WOT?*]

I have had no issue with turning 16, 18, 21, 25, 29, 30 or even 40 or older. I am actually loving my 40s even more than I loved my 30s, which were pretty darn great for the most part, especially as the decade ended. I'm now approaching 50 and still have trouble remembering that I'm actually that old.

The birthdays don't faze me at all. I'm just one day older than I was the day before. My concerns relate to different markers. Is my memory still okay? Is forgetting that little thing normal or am I leading up to memory loss then dementia and then Alzheimer's? Is that lump still there or bigger or smaller or just a swollen spot? Is it cystic, fibrous or cancerous? What about the post-surgical stuff south of the border? Is the abdominal growth normal sit-on-my-ass-sedentary or is it due to growth of the stuff that's not supposed to be growing? Should I have had the surgery or should I have gone more aggressive with the surgery? And so forth.

The birthdays aren't at all an issue. The issue is the relatives who have reached these same ages and developed serious medical problems (which I seem to be following in the timeline so my medical treatment is basically "cut it out, cut it all out, so I don't get it later!) Age - no big deal. Questioning my health as I age - big deal.

[hannamarin]

I trynot to think "only 17 yrs left, etc". Too depressing.
30 was easy to deal with once I realized it was still young

[bliss]

Jul 7, 2012 0:41:20 GMT -5 steph96 said:

I'm more freaked out about the thought that when my mom was my age, she had already been married for 5-6 years, had a miscarriage, and had just given birth to my sibling. I can't imagine being in her shoes. There is no way I am ready for that at this age.

Other than that, I'm not really phased by it. Maybe I will be once I hit 40. That seems like the first "big" birthday milestone to me.

This exactly. My mom had me at 22 and it still trips me out that by my age she was a mother of 2 with a 3rd on the way. I can't even imagine having kids at this point on my life.

However, I do really embrace the milestones. Birthdays are important too me (I celebrate half birthdays). I'm freaking out about my next birthday, but I'm thankful for all the years I have had. And all the people I've spent those years with.

I personally, try to look at it as a positive of the people I've spent X amount of time with/birthdays with so I try not to let it get too me. It sucks and it really makes you realize how much time has truly passed, but on the same coin it makes you realize how luck you were to experience all those birthdays.

Happy birthday and GL.

[Deleted]

Yes. Well not even just milestone birthdays but birthdays in general. I have definitely reached the age where I don't want to get any older. Sometimes I'll think about the cool stuff coming up in our lives, like how great it will be when the kids are older and we can start taking fun trips again. But then I'll think about how old I'll be by then and get depressed. This probably sounds really neurotic, lol.

I don't know, getting older just sucks. Although I guess it beats the alternative

[Deleted]

I am turning 30 later this year and am not too worried about it. I was talking to a close friend who is turning 30 in a couple of weeks, and she is not looking forward to it at all. I said "30 will be great!" and she said "just wait until it's your turn." Haha. So maybe I will feel differently in a few months? As long as I have my Ph.D. before I turn 30, I'll be good.

[h]

30 didn't phase me. I just turned 35 and found it mildly depressing--I am not ready to be in my mid/late 30s.

[drloretta]

faze

Most milestone birthdays don't bother me. 35 did, but that's because I was still single. And it was the year of "35yo single woman are bitter and hate men" in a bunch of "news" articles, while nothing could be further from the truth for me.

I don't obsess over time left with people like that in relation to birthdays, but I've felt that way from time to time in my life.

[chessie]

Doesn't faze me a bit. Live our lives, do what you need to do, see friends/family..etc. We can die at any moment, young or old..So I dont obsess over these things. Though I have found later in my 20's as I approach 30's, things are getting easier.

[max88]

It doesn't faze me and I hope it never will. My mom has been a great example of someone who has aged gracious and is thankful for every year she is given. She's never had the attitude of "oh god I'm going to be 40, 50,...". She never complains about her age, getting old, wrinkles, etc. Hopefully I'll always keep that same attitude. I'll be 28 next month and I'm super excited. I also can't wait 'til I turn 30. I feel like I've been in my 20's forever. I'm not rushing the aging process but I am looking forward to what my 30s bring.

[lys]

I celebrate! I am always glad to have the opportunity to live another year.

[raangoli]

30 wasn't that big a deal. I am sure though that I did get a little sad about it. At the time though, there was a lot going on with a family member being very sick and the past few years have changed my perspective on things because of what happened. As I age into my 30s I do start to freak out that perhaps I should get "the show on the road" with regards to starting a family, etc. but there is also still time for all of that.

[liveintheville]

Late 30s. It is what it is.

[macmars45]

They don't faze me or depress me but I've only had a few milestone birthdays so far (16, 16, 21 & 25), so take that with a grain of salt.
I do worry about my parents getting older though. They're already 61/62 years old and I'm only 26 years old. It sucks being the youngest of five in that regard.

[mcsangel2]

Didn't care at all about turning 30. Never even thought about turning 35. I just turned 40 2 months ago, and for about 2 weeks before I was all "Is this weird? I don't know how I feel about it." It doesn't bother me about 98% of the time, but every once in a while I'll make a joke to someone else about it, just cause it's weird to think I'm definitely middle aged now, and FORTY FFS, but it really doesn't feel like it.

[fortmyersbride]

The milestone birthdays haven't really bugged me yet. DH seems to have a harder time with each birthday though, especially when he got to the "late 30s" range. I think for him it's the strong family history of coronary artery disease up against him, and knowing he could very well have a heart attack before the kids reach college. Since I don't have that same threat up against me, I guess I'm less in touch with my own aging/mortality.

[Deleted]

I play with numbers like that all the time. I once counted how many consecutive dachshunds I was likely to own. Lol

[mayflowers22]

I'm dreading 30.

[Deleted]

Turning 30 did not freak me out at all. Turning 34 did because that means next year I'm 35 and then 40 and then.... AAAAHHHH.

haha. I don't know. I guess the realization that by the time my kids are bigger and DH and I can start doing things together again we will be a lot older than we were the last time we could really spend couple time together makes me kind of sad. I'm not sure why.