When I was 24, I was single, broke, and childless.

When I was 24, I was single, broke, and childless.

—All I said to myself was, ‘I can’t wait to finish law school and start making money,’ and ‘I long to get married + have children.’

When I was 34, I was married with 3 girls under age 5.

We paid for 1 full-time nanny & 2 full-time daycares at an after-tax cost of ~80K annually. I worked 2700 hours in BigLaw.

—All I said to myself was, ‘I can’t wait for the girls to go start kindergarten,’ and ‘I long to stop working so hard.’

When I was 44, we had 3 busy tweens who couldn’t drive themselves to anything.

We’d amassed 10 years of childcare debt and still lived with a full-time nanny. I was still grinding it out in BigLaw, albeit less so.

—All I said to myself was, ‘I can’t wait for the girls to be old enough to drive themselves,’ and ‘I long to retire.’

This year, I turned 56. We’ve long-since turned debt into savings, I work for myself (much, much less), and we live in an empty nest.

Although I might say to myself, ‘I can’t wait for grandchildren,’ and ‘I long for Matt to retire,” (indeed, both are true), that isn’t the full truth.

The full truth is that there were wonderful things at 24, 34, and 44, and I didn’t take enough time to live in the moment and soak those things in. I was too busy looking for that next, so-called “better” stage.

But today, I’m soaking in all the good things that DO come with this age. There’s no sense waiting or longing for the next stage. It will come, soon enough.

And so, if you’re like me, at 24, 34, 44, waiting and longing for what’s next, please pause and reflect. Soak in the good things of this stage—all of them—fully.

Your next stage will come, soon enough.

💌 Amanda