Chapter 1 Excerpt - Amanda

Since I'm having a cranky Monday, I've decided to use an excerpt from my book, 30 Isn't Old, for today's blog entry. I'd like to introduce you to Amanda, one of the participants who volunteered for the book. A more detailed introduction can be found in Chapter 1 "Who We Are".

Amanda exudes contentment with her life. She bubbles with
enthusiasm for celebrating her birthday and her life. She
has the traditional marriage and family along with a career and
spiritual commitment. She believes that she has all she does “by
the grace of God.” A Mississippi native and Alabama resident,
her soft southern drawl is complemented by her spunky upbeat personality.

Amanda defines success as “being happy with your life and where
you are.” It’s not about how much money you make or what kind of
job you have, it’s “about your overall joy,” she says. She feels successful
because she has a “great family,” she and her husband both
have good jobs and they aren’t in debt. They have been married three
years and have a one-year-old daughter. Her dream for the future is
to have more children. She says “My dream would be for my children
to grow up and be good people, especially my daughter, [to be] a
good strong woman. I’m in that stage where it’s a little frightening
because I have to instill in her the values that I want to instill...My
dream is that I can do that and do that well. ”

She does not fear turning thirty; instead Amanda’s looking forward
to it. “I always thought it would be great to turn twenty because
I thought, I won’t be a teenager anymore so everybody will think I’m
an adult. Well, that is not true. Because when you’re in your twenties
everybody still thinks you’re a child,” she laughed. She explained
that when women are in their twenties everyone thinks they are still
immature but that perception changes at thirty. She also doesn’t fear
turning thirty because she feels she has no missed opportunities
since she is happy with her decisions and “where they’ve brought
me” in life.