Life moves pretty fast...if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.    - Ferris Bueller 

When did all the hot young Hollywood "it" girls start playing the mom roles in movies? Cameron and Jennifer have been replaced with Selena and Miley. I was just flipping through a gossip magazine and realized I barely even recognize any of the celebs that are photographed at after parties and on the red carpet. Sometimes when I find out certain people are close to my age, I'm often surprised and think I don't really look as old as them, do I? I'm probably deluding myself, but I like to think I haven't changed too much over the years.

I've got a birthday coming up and it's kind of a milestone. Not a major one, but as a friend so eloquently put it, "Once you reach 35, every day you're a little closer to 50 than 20". I've never been too concerned with birthdays, mainly because I'm really happy with my life and each year brings something new and exciting. Even if presented with a time machine, there isn't any year I'd go back and do over again. I do, however, notice that the years are starting to go by faster. People now refer to me as a lady or a woman, instead of a girl and strangers get my attention by calling "m'am" rather than "miss".  Soon I'll be considered "middle aged" although this thought kind of horrifies me. This realization has forced me to become a little more reflective over the journey I've taken.

My teens were all about obsessing - obsessing over whether or not the boy would call, obsessing about my "fat" thighs (if only I'd known, I would have worn a bikini 24/7!), obsessing about who said something behind my back or which friend was "mad" at me that week.

My 20's were about searching. - searching for the perfect job, searching for a boyfriend that was "husband material", searching for the right outfit to wear Friday night, searching for myself (whatever that meant).

I'm not really sure what my 30's are about. Maybe about contentment? Acceptance? Or about pleasing myself instead of worrying what others think. The last one is a struggle for me, but I'm trying. When I look back at who I was at 20, I barely recognize that girl. I have changed immensely and learned so much about myself and about life. I like me so much more today than I did back then. I'd love to say "I've arrived!", but the truth is I still have a lot of work to do. My grandma recently turned 90 and she still says she's got a lot to learn. Maybe we're always a work in progress.

My mom recently said to me (as I was agonizing over saying "no" to something someone had requested of me), "the problem with you young girls is you worry too much all the time about what others will think. My friends and I just do what makes us happy and don't worry about all that other stuff. People will understand". This is so true. Why does it take women so long to figure this out?

I love older women. I think I've always been drawn to them, more so than people my own age. There's something calming about them. I just like being in their presence. Maybe it's because of their maternal instincts. They're more self-assured than younger women, more introspective, deeper, wiser and have more of a "been there, done that" attitude. They don't take themselves as seriously, having the ability to laugh at more things.

Dayven's grandfather had this advice...Enjoy yourself now, because the Golden Years aren't all they've cracked up to be. That's comforting, isnt' it? Why is it they say "youth is wasted on the young"? I think it's because no one really, truly appreciates their life as they're going through it. It's only when you look back over it that you really see all the gifts and realize how trivial your problems were.

I guess if I had to pick a theme to aspire to for my 30's, it would be gratitude and presence. I want to learn to be really present in each and every moment. Enjoy the doing and worry less about the getting done. Slow down, relax and revel in each day with my beautiful children, instead of rushing toward bedtime like it's the finish line of race. Focus more on the journey and not the destination. Appreciate the many gifts that each day brings.

Who cares if you're another year older? Be grateful for another year! It's more than some people get. Don't sweat the arrival of a wrinkle or a gray hair, my friends. With age, comes wisdom. You're just getting started...