It was fun to get the winning email with my 30th birthday next week. My gift to myself was to lose 30 lbs, which wasn't easy. It was however possible, and I don't know why I didn't discover that until now.
I read somewhere that your twenties are about figuring out what you want, and your thirties about working hard to get it. If I had truly believed in the importance of sustained, focused effort earlier in life I would have disagreed with this. I would have spent less time thinking about the person I would like to be, and more time doing the things that he would do. It doesn't count if it stays inside; see also faith vs. works.
Things I can't resist saying to 25k people:
* I asked the most creative person I know what I should write, and she said to tell people not only are there repercussions for being a douche, but for not being a douche, and to tread carefully.
* If you can get over the quirkiness, mewithoutYou's 2009 album may resonate with you as much as it does with me. It's all crazy, it's all false, it's all a dream, it's alright.
* I just re-read my favorite book, The Broad Highway. At this point I've read it so many times that I don't even know if it's truly a good book, just that my dad shared it with me as a young man so I like it. Best selling fiction book of 1911. Check it out.
* I'd love to hear from you how your culture and language celebrate birthdays. I'm American, but living in Holland I expect to hear a lot of "gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag", literally "congratulations with your birthday". We'll likely be sitting in a circle eating cake and drinking strong coffee.
* What is one thing I should do/see/visit/eat while I'm in Europe?
* What have you accomplished that you didn't think was possible?
John
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The Netherlands / USA