Another step forward in this journey we call life.

Tomorrow I turn 30. It's a big milestone in my life, but why? It's a marker that I pass and go and get my license renewed at the DMV. Nothing really changes too drastically. I have the same job. I'm still engaged to my fiancee; she doesn't love me any less. My dog still waits for me when I get home and doesn't care that I am older. Friends come and go, but at this age you usually have a few that aren't going anywhere for the rest of your life. So why does everyone fret over a number? For me it's just another step forward in this journey we call life.

Days come and go... weeks, months, years... We create relationships. We create memories. We bask in days of joy and cry in the days of sorrow. We share these experiences with those we love and sometimes with those we want to strangle. We gain new friends. We create families, but not always by blood. Friends can become your siblings or a pet becomes a furry child or nephew/niece.

Sometimes we move on when we don't want to, but realize later on in life it was for the best. As we get older we learn and grow. Each day we usually become wiser, but there are those days where we digress and eventually learn from. Those are the most important. That is what brings the strongest wisdom. We learn to be empathic to others. We learn how to be there for others in those times. It really is just one big circle. We fall; someone helps us up and then we turn around and help the next one who has fallen. We push and pull each other through this journey we call life. Every day is a struggle for someone in our lives and each day we trade off the title of hero in others' lives.

Each day we do our best to live our  lives the best we know how. A lot of times we get stuck in the mundane, but each day someone out there is looking up to you. Even just a little smile or a thank you is more than enough to brighten the person's day that thinks you are their hero.

Our lives are measured by the little gestures. It is measured by those we lift we up and at times carry when they can't get up on their own feet. I like to think in aging we don't have to regret anything we have done as long as we have grown taller on the inside and to others. We all make mistakes, but only looking back drags us down. I'm not saying we shouldn't ever look back, but we should do so to learn. Look up, take the next step, pass the milestones in your own journey. Forge paths for you and those behind you. We will see paths join, twist, cross, and at times depart from each other. When we get to the end we will see what a marvelous journey we created with our different achievements, relationships, and milestones.We then have a journey we can be proud of.