Choose.

I am almost 30.

Do we have to choose?

A few months ago, the thought of being so close to 30 would’ve terrified me. But a lot can happen in eight months. Things that shift your being, your thinking, your whole perspective. Now, I’m actually excited.

So what if I’m not married or don’t have children by 28? That was the plan, sure, but life hasn’t unfolded in that way. And honestly, that’s okay. It could still happen—at least the meeting-someone part. ANd lowkey glad that some plans have been interrupted. But I digress.

The point is, we all carry ideas of where we should be in life by a certain age. We chase timelines: owning a home, hitting milestones in our careers, making a certain amount of money, checking the boxes that supposedly add up to being “on track.” But more often than not, those timelines box us in and keep us from truly experiencing where we are.

What I’ve learned is that it’s okay to pivot. It’s okay to release the old plans and make space for new things. It’s okay to admit that we were wrong about what life had to look like.

I don’t want to spend my life chasing milestones and missing the joy that’s already here. So I’m choosing differently: I’m choosing excitement over fear, possibilities over pressure. I’m choosing to trust that this life—God willing—is long enough to build, rebuild, and keep trying. And if it isn’t long, I don’t want to have wasted it being so serious that I forgot to live.

There is no handbook for womanhood or adulthood. But if there’s one rule I want to follow, it’s this: choose happiness.

As it turns out, things aren’t always black and white. There’s gray. And in the gray, I’m choosing faith in God. I’m choosing the steps that scare me. I’m choosing the failures that shape the wins. I’m accepting disappointments, embracing nerves, and still moving forward.

Onward and upward.

What’s a girl to do? Choose.