I really love every part of my birthday. I love cake. I love being the center of attention for an entire day. I love using my birthday as an excuse to get out of things:
“Sorry, I can’t do laundry. It’s my birthday”
“Sorry, I can’t cook today. It’s my birthday.”
“Sorry, I can only eat cake All. Day. Long. It’s my birthday”
While I’ve never been one to get hung up on age, this particular birthday has given me reason to take pause and all because of a little box.
The other day I was filling out an application for something– I cannot remember what the application was for because momnesia, it’s real and it’s wicked– and when I went to “check the box for your age,” I paused because I realized, I was moving up a box! Normally I fall into 30-34 or the 27-34 box, but now I’m moving on up to the 35-40 box. Yikes! How did that happen?Really, at what point did my box officially become “mid-thirties” and closer to 40 than 25? 35, huh?
Really, I usually have no hangups about getting older, mainly because I’m too busy, frazzled, and exhausted to really contemplate age, but I was definitely taken aback. And to be honest, I don’t really know why.
So instead of feeling down in the dumps and being an emotional eater all day today, I’m going to think of all the awesome shit people did when they were 35. Like this:
- Julia Child started cooking at age 35
- Evelyn Ashford won her final Olympic gold medal at age 35
- Frederic William Herschel, an English astronomer, invented contact lens.
- Mozart stopped composing because he died (Wait, that’s a horrible example!)
Maybe all of these accomplishments will inspire me to simply eat all the cake out of joy and anticipation of what this year of life has in store for me– I already have a few fabulous things brewing personally and professionally, and did I mention I’m eating cake all day?
So this new box, it ain’t no thing because much like a fine wine, I get better with age. Which is ridiculous because I only drink cheap wine, but I digress.