Twenty-nine. That’s me now. My birthday was this week, and I am now officially knocking on the door to my thirties.

I’m not bothered by this fact! Really! I’m not! Believe it or not, I’ve actually looked forward to my thirties for years. I have always felt like they’d be some of the best years of my life, so as I pass through this next year staring down the barrel of three-oh going, “Bring. It. On!”

But, as I look back on the last year, I have to ask myself if I am any wiser than I was when I turned 28. I’m far more fabulous, that’s for sure. But am I wiser?

Considering the fact that in the last year we’ve watched the economy tank, its pretty hard not to answer that question with a great big resounding YES!!

With every year that passes… every day that passes… you gain knowledge and wisdom about the world you live in, and it molds you even as you mold it. In some ways, the world has left me very cynical about many things. The fuse on my temper has gotten a little shorter in direct relation to the amount of patience I have these days. I also am slower to trust people, things and situations.

However, in that very same breath, the amount of faith I have has not only doubled but quadrupled. A higher being — I say God — has stepped in countless times at that last second to catch me before I fell. Just when I am ready to throw my hands in the air, a hand reaches out to pull me back up.

I don’t take that for granted, of course. No, I always do all I can to pull myself through. I strive to make things happen for myself. But I’ve had plenty of things happen that make me go, “That has to be God talking to me.” I’m listening!

I’m listening to my heart and to my gut. I’m listening when someone gives me advice, and I take it to heart. I am growing wiser by listening and having faith. I’m preparing for my 30s and beyond.

So do I know what the next year will bring? Not at all. I don’t even know what tomorrow will bring. But I have my dreams and goals, and I am running towards them at full speed. How long will it take for me to get there?

Only time will tell.