9 Realizations You Should Have In Your Thirties

Your thirties are a crucial time in your life. You can learn a ton about yourself and this world as a whole. Here are some powerful realizations people from Ask Reddit have had in their thirties:

“The strongest power I have is my absence. I can literally just leave. Don’t like how someone is treating me? I can just go home. Don’t like the atmosphere? I can just walk out. My dad is treating me like trash? Don’t have to contact him ever again. I have an awesome family with my partner and baby, my life is low stress, and I have super chill friends. I feel super fulfilled in life. That took a lot of leaving people that weren’t good for me.” — Odd_Chemist_6511

“I realized how little people actually care about you unless you’re of use to them (like in the form of people pleasing and giving). You really have to learn to look out for yourself and figure out who is genuine or not. As an empath and overthinking and sensitive person, it took me 30 years to realize not everyone was thinking about me as much as I was thinking about them.” — Valuable_Treat16

“That your 30s can sometimes be just the beginning of your life. More significant things have happened to me since I turned 30 (33 now) than the rest of my adult life.” — Craguar23

“You will never really feel like an adult. Most adults feel like they’re just faking adulting, too.” — ant1freez3

“I thought I was starting to get old when I turned 30. Now I’m 38 and I wish I could go back and tell my 30-year-old self how young I was and how INCREDIBLE my 30’s were going to be. Maybe it would have saved me a lot of anxiety. Or maybe that anxiety and stress was all a part of the journey. And who’s to say that 48-year-old me won’t want to come back and slap 38-year-old me and tell HIM how young HE is and how amazing his 40’s are going to be? Seems like life just gets sweeter as I go… so I suppose I need to stop worrying about getting older and just enjoy the ride. One day, hopefully 90-year-old me will look back and smile when he thinks about the romantic, exciting days of his youth, when he was just 40 or 50 years old…” — VapidHooker

“When you hit 16 you realize all the stuff that was important as a child was bullshit. When you hit 21 you realize all the stuff that was important as a teenager was bullshit. When you hit 30 you realize all the stuff that was important to someone in their 20s was bullshit.” — spytez

“It made getting older sexy. I don’t look at 20 year olds anymore because they are not appealing to me. I appreciate the slight greys, the subtle laugh lines. You can tell who took care of themselves and stopped binging like from their 20s. Maturity is a fine wine.” — IWearBones138__

“Go to therapy. It will save you a lot of years of repressing your emotions and unhealthy coping mechanisms.” — Curious_Rooster9572

“You don’t NEED to be with someone you WANT to be with someone. Sometimes hard times (like a divorce or a long-term relationship) will make you realize that you don’t need to be with someone. Being a whole with that person doesn’t make you whole. You are your own person. Seeing your life go to what you think is the worst thing that can happen is what makes you open your eyes and see there’s more to this world. I thought I was going to die without him yet here I am still laughing and smiling. There are good and bad days but everyone has them. Be stronger for YOU. Be better for YOU. Learn to put yourself first. I turned 30 earlier this year and went into it separated and absolutely crushed.” — OppositeResponse6474