I find it crazy how much a person changes and evolves in their twenties and early thirties. If you knew me when I was twenty or younger, I can just about guarantee you do not know the me of today. We learn so much about ourselves as we venture through our third decade. The me of my twenties had strong ideals on parenting, relationships, religion… everything really, but I didn’t have the life experience that the thirty-something me has now.
When you are a teen and early twenty-something, you want to be heard, you want to be seen, and most importantly, you want to be taken seriously. Some of the things I was so passionate about then, I no longer see as front-runners in life today. Sometimes, the things you once felt were so important, are no longer in the forefront of your mind and instead you find them replaced with what actually matters to you as you get older. I find myself no longer caring about the newest fashion or hairstyle, or heck even caring about what others think of me. Instead, I find my thoughts filled with homeschool decisions, parenting issues, and striving to show my children equality, love and acceptance of others.
The things that once annoyed me, I find funny or even a little petty sometimes, and my worries of keeping up with the Jones are replaced with “What kind of world are my kids going to grow up in?”
I’m not saying that what I once was passionate about was wrong or that I am better now; on the contrary, I think our experiences through our early adult lives make us who we are.
Transitioning from teen to early twenty-something to wife and mother of four who is now in her mid-thirties, has been such a maturing experience, full of so many life lessons which one couldn’t experience without growing and changing in so many areas.
I realized as I got older that the girl I used to be is no longer around.
The naive and trusting soul I used to be has been hardened in some ways, my passion has intensified in some areas, and I have learned from my own mistakes and those of others. My interests have changed, my love has grown and multiplied more than I could have imagined. I am a completely different person than I once was and for that I am grateful. It would be a pretty boring existence if we never evolved and grew through out experiences.
Can you imagine being the same now as you were at 15? Change can be hard, but the slow transition from young adult to the woman I am today is something I am proud of. So no, if you only knew me back then, you don’t know me, so let me reintroduce myself.
