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A year older and wiser
By Meg | May 11, 2008
It’s my birthday. Last night we had a great party here at the house and I felt really lucky to have so many great friends who could make it. We even had two out of town guests who are visiting, Sara from The Bargain Queens and Gala from iCiNG.
But now, it’s the actual morning of my birthday and I’m sitting here alone just thinking. Normally I’d be really excited for it to be my birthday, but I feel more reserved, more introspective this time around. I’m still not old by any means, but I’m past the age when I thought it was cool that people thought that I looked older than I really was. Fortunately, the ratio of my actual age to the age I look has gotten a little closer. When I was 12 people thought I was in my 20s because I developed early and to a pronounced degree. Now that I’m in my mid 20s, people guess my age only a year or two older, and mostly I think because of how I act and where I am in life. After all, not many people my age have a house and have been married for over six years.
It’s not that I even fear being a few years older — or that I want to relive the past. If anything, I’m quite sure that my best years are ahead, and I wouldn’t relive the past for anything. Yes, I start thinking more about skincare, part of me is a little jealous of certain friends of mine who so effortlessly look so much younger than they are. And I wonder how things will change in the years far off but steadily approaching when I’ll start to find gray hairs then white, and the lines get etched deeper across my face.
But more than that, more than worrying about appearances, I simply don’t want to miss out on things. I don’t want to feel like any moment is wasted. If I had to sum up my attitude this year it would be simply “waste not.” I realize now that that’s the driving force between much of what I write nowadays: don’t waste money, don’t waste a first impression, don’t waste time, don’t waste opportunities, don’t even waste what you have in your wardrobe. There is a common thread to it all despite the seemingly contradictory image of a gal who loves having dozens of pairs of shoes, but who switched to the cheapest toilet paper in Sam’s Club to save a few cents.
Sure, “waste” means different things to different people. For some people, more than one or two pairs of shoes is a waste of money. For some people, not multitasking is waste of time. Meanwhile, I make no apologies for my extensive shoe collection, and simply doing nothing for a moment, while difficult for me, is well worth the time. For me, waste is about not appreciating what you have and not using things well according to your priorities. Waste could be money spent on something you don’t really care about or it could be cute shoes that never get worn because it’s easier to play it safe with the same ol’ pair day after day. It could be a meal that is not savored or friends not visited. It could be not getting the most out of a chance meeting or an interest that isn’t explored.
So today if you wish to give me a birthday present, take time to not waste what you have — and if you can’t appreciate something, give it to someone who will. And most of all, don’t waste the people around you.
Tags: Age Matters, Beauty, Body, Priorities, Special Occasions
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May 11th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Happy Birthday, Meg!
May 14th, 2008 at 9:24 am
Many happy returns of the day, Meg.
May 14th, 2008 at 10:25 pm
Thanks so much, Aparna!
May 15th, 2008 at 1:58 am
Happy Birthday, Meg!!
May 21st, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Amen on not wasting people around you. One of my dear coworkers died Sunday in a car accident. She was 26 embarking on 27. We never had dinner together like we planned or a trip to the pastry shops.
May 23rd, 2008 at 11:32 am
Sorry to hear that, Sfordinarygirl! If I have any real regrets, it’s that I didn’t spend more time with my friend and roommate Danielle. I just figured that we’d have plenty of time. She lived with us for a little less than three months before she was in a car accident.