Sunny with a Chance of Sprinkles

In my last post I alluded to the fact that I would be turning 30 in a few months.  This feels huge to me, whether or not it should.  In fact, I remember being gripped with fear over turning 30 when I was 25.  Clearly, I have dramatic tendencies.  Anyway, over the past couple of years I have often found myself shocked to find that people that I knew that seemed so grown up and mature were actually younger than me.  It wasn’t the way they looked, but the way they carried themselves and crafted their lives that gave them this adult-like presence.  Meanwhile, I’ve been in this weird not-quite-a-college-student-but-not-really-an-adult phase. 

So, I’ve been thinking about the characteristics that these “role models” of mine have that make them seem so grown up.  It seems to me that grown ups tend to:

1. Decorate and make their homes nice-looking
2. Cook real meals
3. Have wide-spread networks of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances
4. Exercise
5. Be well-groomed and nicely dressed (I really don’t think it would hurt me to pluck my eyebrows before they reached caveman status)
6. Whine less so that they can spend more time getting things done
7. Be friendly

I wonder if adopting these traits would make me carry myself differently.

Now, I realize that these “models of adulthood” aren’t perfect.  And I don’t expect perfection from myself.  But I do expect myself to try a little harder because I’m not a college student anymore.  I haven’t been for a really, really long time.  And it’s time for me to finally step up.