Is it true turning 31 is worse than turning 30?

[ButterflyBlood]

I've heard this from people before, and I can kind of see it. It makes sense. I guess the idea is at 30 it's just "you're 30", but then at 31 you're "in your 30s" and an actual 30something. A 30-year old technically isn't a 30something.

I was at a show a few weeks ago chatting with a girl outside in a grindcore band shirt who talked about how she turned 30 a month earlier but it wasn't a big deal and she didn't mind it. Now I'm wondering how she'd feel in 11 months.

Furthermore if you're 30 you can argue that you're still in the 20something decade by a proper decimal system, the same way that 2001 was the actual start of the new century and millennium, not 2000. Can't anymore at 31.

So people who have passed it, what's the case?

[fizzgig]

1. never thought about it until now

i turned 31 earlier this year and it was just another birthday. i just wish someone would have told me about the second puberty that hit around 29 and is still going.

[ButterflyBlood]

2. I'm hitting 30 in about 16 months

But all the people I've talked to are always "it's not so bad."

[Major Nikon]

3. The part of age that's numerical never bothered me much.

For me it was more about body changes.

Hair not growing where it's supposed to and suddenly appearing in places you wouldn't have imagined it would. Strange bumps. Wrinkles. Hair changing color. Joints aching. Balls sagging.

Those are the kinds of things that really wake you up to the fact that yer not young anymore.

[laundry_queen]

4. I totally agree.

I had my first child at 22 and the pregnancy totally destroyed my body, so I had to deal with the loss of my 'young' body back THEN. I was okay when I turned 30, as I looked quite young still (in my face at least) and had dealt with the body issues when I was 22. I found 31 easy as well. 35 was tougher, as I was starting to find the odd grey hair and putting on make up was becoming more difficult as my eye skin became less firm. This year was 37 and I got lucky enough to have someone a few weeks before my birthday be quite shocked when I told her my age (I suppose pink hair and a nose ring will do that) so that helped, but each birthday is getting worse. I thought the milestones - 30,35,40 - would bother me more, but I'm finding it's the middle numbers that freak me out. I'm now in my 'late' 30's and 'near' 40 so I DO hate the labels, but the physical changes are so depressing! I think the reason I'm hating the middle numbers more (ie 33 and 37) is that those are when I started noticing even bigger changes physically. I'm lucky that I do look young for my age, have very few wrinkles, have the blessing of genetics (my grandmother is nearly 90 and looks 60, and is only now a tad more grey than brown) but it means that I'm just adjusting to the changes NOW that my friends (who have been grey since they were in their late 20's) have been dealing with for 7 or 8 years.

[HopeHoops]

5. No. Same shit, different year.

[pipi_k]

6. Not for me...

I had a horrible midlife crisis when I turned 30.

When I turned 31 I was OK.

Looking back now, it was all silly. I'll be 60 in October, and would LOVE to be 30 again.

Or even 40.

[Wounded Bear]

7. So long ago, I don't remember.....

[Grey]

8. It's mind over matter,

If you don't mind it don't matter.

I turn 70 in a couple weeks and I can't wait.
I love being this age, whatever age it is.....

[Populist_Prole]

9. Didn't rattle me in the least, though I expected it to when I was younger

It really is your body that drives the feeling of aging, not your mind. I began paying more attention to health around 40, and indeed I was in better shape in my 40's than I was in my 30's. At 50 now and though I'm still a young punk in my mind, it's the niggling little stuff that happens to your body that is becoming irritating: needing reading glasses, aches and pains for no apparent reason, nose hairs/ear hairs/eyebrows that seem to have their own supply of propecia. I also have to work harder to keep weight off.

My advice: Enjoy the next 20 years as much as you can.

[seanpencil]

10. you deal with a lot of shit in your 30's no one tells you about

maybe that's it

[Quantess]

11. 31derful.

There is no difference, ubnless your life circumstances make it different.

[MrsBrady]

12. 26 got to me because I was closer to 30 than to 20

I'm 40 this year, and I feel better than ever.

I still feel 26. People tell me I look about 28.

So I'll just go with that.

edit: but I have to color my hair, and I can't drink like I used to...
so, there's that too.

[shadowrider]

13. I can assure you, 59 is worse than 31, 37, 45, or 50. n/t

[Curmudgeoness]

20. Um, gulp, why?

Why? One more month and I will know, but I can't wait that long.

[MiddleFingerMom]

14. Time? The first is one of my favorites -- I think Stephen Wright used it and kinda "accepted" credit

.
.
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Henri Bergson (1859–1941) Time keeps everything from happening all at once.
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Albert Einstein (1879–1955) Time is what a clock measures.
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Ben Hecht (1894–1964) Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away.
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Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865) The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a time.
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William Shakespeare (1564–1616) I wasted time, and now doth time waste me.
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unknown: The speed of time is one second per second.
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Personally, turning 30 was nothing for me. I was single and having a BLAST no matter what I was doing.
For my little brother (about 3 years difference) it was traumatic -- he was married and had two kids and
his responsibilities were weighing heavily upon him.
.
Turning 40, for me, was not different -- still having the time of my life and not feeling the passage of
time much.
.
Turning 50? My health problems had started and it was a slightly dark milestone.
.
Now?
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I've died and come back several times since then (as I had in my earlier years, too) and appreciate every
day that I have now, no matter how "diminished".
.
.
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Of course, being Fucking Immortal... that's easy for ME to say, innit?
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In other words... "Hush, child."
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.
.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Thirties were not so bad. 40 Was harder, because that means 50 is just down the road.

[auntAgonist]

16. It beats the alternative ! n/t

[NightWatcher]

17. my bod went to shit at 36

so you've got 5 more years to get ready

[Bassic]

18. 25 was the worst for me.

Physically it's just all downhill from there.

[Curmudgeoness]

19. Although this milestone hit a long time ago for me,

I remember vividly when I hit 31. I have not had any age hit me with such vengence! I determined that it was because I had steeled myself for the big 3-0. Everyone talked about how that was so traumatic, so I was ready for it. But then I just let 31 slip up on me. I was devastated. And yes, I was "in my 30's"....that hurt.

Since I am close to double that now, I am not sure if that is the worst age to hit or not. But if you are close to hitting either 30 or 31, enjoy your life----you are still so young. And after the initial shock of being in my 30's, I have to say that my 30's were the absolute best years of my life----young enough to enjoy everything, old enough to feel self-assured and confident.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. it all sucks. Gimme 8 months and I will tell you about 50