Birthday Reflections

On this, my first morning at age 29, I am feeling good. This is not always the case. When I turned 25, I woke up feeling old. When I turned 28, I was terrified as I started a brand-new chapter of my life. On turning 29, though, I find that I am content. I'm not distressed at the impending close of my 20's -- actually, it feels like a really long decade at this point, and I'll be thrilled to move on! I'm not apprehensive at my apparent lack of direction in life. I don't feel inadequate because my mother was married with two children by this time in her life. I'm not even depressed because I celebrated alone last night. I feel good.

I love my job, the paying one. I love my work, the non-paying part. I adore my new piano teacher. I get a kick out of German. I like living in Kentucky. The sunrise this morning was more gorgeous than it has been all week. I sprang to life before the alarm rang -- and considering that the alarm rings at four, that doesn't happen very often! This will be a wonderful year. It will certainly be difficult in many ways, and has already been so. Nonetheless, I'm thrilled to be 29 today.