The Best Decade

Today, I met one of my co-workers on the hallway. She stopped to wish me a happy birthday, welcoming me to a new decade.  She shared, that years and years ago, her sister-in-law called the 30s the best age decade of her life. For herself, the 30s were great, but so were her 40s, and as far as she can say, the 50s are great, too.

Having just crossed the threshold into what may or may not be the best decade of my life, I started to contemplate what the three decades of my life mean to me so far:

1^st decade: I don’t remember much. My fate was mostly decided by others and my self-confidence barely being rudimentary.

2^nd decade: my teens, let’s not talk about it. Definitely filled with a good share of the usual angst, amateur self-finding attempts, rebellions, eating disorders, therapies.

3^rd decade: Definitely the decade that changed me the most. The years I worked to find my place in life, when I studied and earned degrees, when I married and had two beautiful girls, when I moved there, even further, and back again.

At the beginning of my 4^th decade, I finally feel as if I have arrived. I have grown confident and mature enough to admit that I will never be the adult I thought I wanted to be; that I am way too much child to really care whether my hands are manicured or my outfit looks perfect and put-together.  I have put down a good foundation for a career; I have a job that I love and where I’m appreciated. We have friends who I did not meet in the clubs while drinking and partying. I have found new hobbies and decided that others were not for me. I am calm, I am confident, and I may finally have an idea who I am.

What was your favorite decade of life so far?