The 7 things that happen in your 30s that many don’t talk about

7. You realise you’re getting older, and so are your parents

My appreciation for my parents grows with age. I still remember the one time my mom came to visit me in Australia. It had been about two years since we had seen each other and finally the wrinkles and fine lines on my mom’s face had finally begun to show her age. My mom has always looked AMAZING for her age but it wasn’t til that moment that I realised our time together is limited.

6. Your friendship circles get smaller

When you’re in high school or university, you have that big chunk of life in common with your friends. But as people begin to venture different paths, suddenly you may find that you start to lose common ground. Or if that’s not the case, it may be that life gets so busy you start to prioritise only the people that matter. In my case it’s a little bit of both. Having moved to Sydney, I’ve lost touch with many of my friends back in Canada. And friends I had in Australia have moved overseas.

5. Fertility or infertility is a big fat taboo topic

Whether to have children, how many to have, deciding not to have children – those are all very sensitive topics I’ve come to learn. This is especially true about infertility. No one ever talks about their struggles in getting pregnant and if you suspect that someone is struggling, you’d never dare to ask. Whether you want to have children or not, there’s always going to be judgement coming – so just let people think what they want and you do you.

4. You start to lose people

You start appreciating every day a little bit more because anything could happen. Each day is a gift. Not too long ago, someone I knew back home gave birth to a beautiful baby boy. And a month later, she suddenly passed. And that’s the thing, we aren’t guaranteed to live for xx years. So while we have the time, spend it with people who matter.

3. Marriages start to fall a part

I often tell my single clients/friends that the dating pool widens in your late 30s. This is because people who married earlier on moving on with different partners. It’s a reality that not all marriages will last. And the tough part is seeing your friends go through the emotional toll a separation and divorce can take on you.

 2. You wonder if ‘this is it’?

Most of us will spend our lives going to work and clocking out on a Friday to enjoy a relaxing weekend. But 10+ years later we start to wonder if this is what life’s like? You wonder if you’re going to be happy doing that same job for another 20-30 years? You start to think if life could be better. Enter my next point.

 1. Side hustles matter 

You start to explore all the different ways you can make passive income so you don’t have to feel obligated to work til retirement age. You start to day dream about all the things you can do with that extra cash and the possibility of scaling your hours back.