Today, I began my last year in my twenties, the grand finale to my third decade of life. This 29th year of life also happens to be my golden birthday – 29 years old on the 29th of the month. As I reflect back on my life, I am filled with gratitude for the very full life I’ve been given the opportunity to live thus far. My gratitude for life’s experiences leads me to wonder what it is that causes so many people to fear getting older. You know what I’m talking about, the token woman who will never reveal her age to anyone, the man who longs to rewind life and forever live in the good ole days, the society that is constantly trying to sell us a new miracle anti-aging cream so we can stay forever young. Where did this fear of aging come from?

Perhaps, I just don’t understand yet because I still have one more year until I’m 30;-) Honestly, I’m inclined to believe that I will never have a fear of aging. Really. I think that mentality is a product of what I’ve coined as the “Youngest Child Syndrome.” I’m the youngest of five kids in my family and I spent my childhood longing to be old enough to do whatever it was that my older siblings, older cousins and older neighbors were doing. You’re “too young” was such a commonly heard phrase. It was as though older age was the highly coveted prize, the all-access ticket to the world around me, and the permission granted to partake in all the big kid activities. In actuality, I guess this is probably where my drive was developed, that never-ending urge to push myself to the limits, my annoying competitive nature of always trying to outdo myself, my inability to accept the word, “no” in a long-term way, and my persistence of acting on my passions in life.

Honestly, though, what’s with our culture’s fear of aging? Shouldn’t we be proud of how far we’ve come in our own individual lives? Shouldn’t our age be like a badge of honor for all we’ve had the opportunity to experience and endure? Shouldn’t we reflect back on the path that we’ve taken, the lessons we’ve learned and be grateful of what we now clearly see will propel us into our future? I believe people are wrong when they say age is just a number. Age is a number, but not just a number. Age is a life filled with experience, knowledge, trials, failures, successes, sufferings, love and blessings. All of  these things and so much more add up to a life of unique beauty. Your age is the number of years you’ve been able to develop and nurture this life thus far. That being said, shouldn’t we all look forward to aging? I don’t mean to wish time away, but to look forward to all that is still yet to come.

Today, on my 29th birthday, I choose to be grateful that I was given this gift of life that so many take for granted and I choose to embrace my age now and forever.