There are some things that you know - intellectually - are bound to happen to you, but you never really believe that they will. For me, turning 30 has been one of them.

Most of my life I've been one of the young ones. Nearly all of my relatives (including cousins) were older than me. When I got a job after graduating, I was the "kid" of the department (and for that matter, the company). When I came out and got involved in the Network, nearly everyone else was older than me. And the sex symbols of society were all my age or older.

But that's been changing. It's been a while since I was last mistaken for a member of the youth group I now facilitate; I'm so old I don't even "count" as the oldest person there. In my current job I'm in the middle of the age range; in fact, I'm older than my boss. In planning for a trip this summer, I'm discovering that I'm no longer eligible for the discounts I always used to get. And as I flip through the magazines at Sons & Daughters, most of the guys in the pictures are younger than me... sometimes a lot.

I'm starting to feel it and look "old" as well. I'm losing hair. My waistline has grown. I can't sit on the floor for very long without starting to ache. And my face is developing "character".

So now comes the clincher. This month the first digit in my age becomes a "3". I'm no longer twentysomething. I'm no longer in the "young adult" age group. I'm middle-aged.

In one of my favorite TV shows, the fatherly Capt. Picard told young cadet Wesley Crusher how much he envied him, because for Wesley "the adventure is just beginning". I'm starting to understand that. While it's by no means over for me (and hopefully not even close), the excitement of starting out on a new adventure has diminished. The challenge for me now is to keep going on that original excitement, for the next 30+ years.

Todd, someone would think from the way you talk that you're the only person in the world who's turned 30, or that it was the end of your life. Bullshit!

So you don't get to play "child prodigy" anymore, you have to pay full price to get into Yellowstone Park, you've gotten too lazy to keep exercising like you used to, and your chances of ever getting featured in a photo layout in Freshmen are officially Zero. Big fucking deal.

For one thing, you still have more of your precious "adventure" ahead of you than behind you. Even if an accident or illness makes that turn out to not be true, there's still no reason you can't keep living life fully for now, just like you did a year ago, or five years before that.

There are much worse things to happen to you than turning 30. No, I don't mean turning 40, 50, or 60, I mean not turning 30. Sorry for being a little bitter, but I had a friend who never turned 30, and know someone else who still might not. Them I can feel sorry for, not you.

If you're not happy with your life, don't just whine and blame it on your age. Do something about it. Get a new job, move to another city, find a (new?) lover, or at least start a new hobby or something.

Whatever you do, don't bother me with this self-pity. Why don't you go out and get laid... maybe you'll feel better about yourself!