JOIN USFor most women, the 20s, was in all likelihood a stage where they could afford to be naïve, carefree, elusive, have fun, benefit from leisure and travel, enjoy the word single, indulge in frolicsome activities such as shopping, dating, squandering time with friends. But once you start nearing your 30s, gears begin to change rather abruptly. With age comes more maturity and responsibilities start to set in, coaxing you to view life through a magnifying lens. Life suddenly seems grim and priorities are shuffled drastically.
It is the age when the struggle to balance your busy work, family and social activities takes up time, energy and enthusiasm. At one end, there is mounting pressure on the career, whereas on the other, responsibilities on the family front also increase.
You unexpectedly feel drained of optimism and depleted of enthusiasm; tensions are on the rise and motivation levels plummet. Sometimes, you are even bleak about where life is taking you.
For those who are spinsters, the thought process shifts towards ‘settling down with the one’. Whereas for the already wedded, everyone’s curious about the arrival of their first or second baby, putting your patience to test. During this decade, you too may grapple with baby questions, like “Should I have one?” or “Should I have another one?”
What comes first
But in all probability, career choices take prominence. You long for a promotion, a salary hike, not to spend, but to accumulate savings, to purchase assets, manage the mounting wants of your family, invest in kids’ education or health plans.
After all, this is a period where you’re preoccupied with accruing bloated titles at work, receiving that corner office, getting married, planning kids, investing money.
The feeling that your youthfulness is fading gradually sets in. You may notice crinkling around your eyes, saggy skin and wrinkles starting to appear. It is also the point at which dark spots and grey hair suddenly surface. A universal stressor among women in their 30s is the overwhelming need to stay fit and look their best all the time.
One knows, maintaining a strong, lean body will make you less prone to weight gain and loss of muscle mass. Regular physical activity also decreases risks of heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure and helps you combat stress and depressionOnce you hit 30s, it is inevitable that the happy-go-lucky feeling of partying, socialising and having fun is slowly replaced with a nagging voice that now reminds you of what you should actually be doing instead of these and of the choices that may be slipping away. You are now unable to spend time in the same way without chastising yourself or feeling guilty.
But don’t panic, for this is the order of nature. Ageing is natural and you have to gracefully accept that you cannot reverse the process.
Elegantly acknowledge your responsibilities, swim through and emerge a stronger lady. Take the chapter of the 30s in your stride and roll-over it. Nature forces you to grow up; believe me, it just happens.