The Mountain

I dreaded turning 30. I see it as a proper grown-up age. In your thirties you can't afford to keep putting off the having kids thing and you are also expected to have a career and be responsible and stuff. The scariest part was that I don't really know where my twenties went; one minute I was a 20-year-old undergraduate at university with no clue about council tax, mortgages, life insurance and all that shit and the next I was turning 30, married with a challenging yet stressful job, a three-bed semi and two cats. I don't regret any of this and am very happy with where my life has taken me. I am lucky to have a stable and mostly fulfilling job, a loving husband and lovely home but I am alarmed at how quickly the years passed. I am also alarmed at just how 'normal' and 'conventional' I am. I have done what society wants me to do, and while this is no bad thing I feel I need to challenge this in my thirties. So I have decided that my next decade will be more challenging, less conventional, less what 'society' might expect. I am going to stop doing what's wanted of me just to please others. Start thinking a bit more about what I REALLY want from life.

So, what have I done about this so far? (I turned 30 in April so have had 6 months of thirties) Well, I have only gone and signed up to climb a mountain; a Himalayan Mountain; a BLOODY big mountain. A 6476m mountain. Exciting and challenging yes but also very, VERY scary! This mountain expedition will take place in Spring 2011 and so gives me the kick up the arse I need to get into shape and to do something truly life-changing and memorable. The trip will also bring together a team of strangers who have met through Twitter and will lead to new friendships with people all across the globe. I am scaring myself with this as it is going to be HUGE and the fear of failure is immense but this is what I need to do. In fact, it is what we all need to do. No, not climb in the Himalayas, (we dont want to turn it into the next Benididorm) but we need to challenge ourselves and set huge targets. We need to fill our lives with exciting stuff and not get to the end of a decade wondering where the hell it went.

"Cause you can't jump the track, we're like cars on a cable
And life's like an hourglass, glued to the table
No one can find the rewind button, girl.
So cradle your head in your hands
And breathe... just breathe"

Anna Nallick, Breathe (2 AM)