Hitting 30 isn’t all bad

It’s the first milestone birthday that most begin to fear after they turn 21.

Adulthood begins to take its true form after it is legal to drink. The gray hairs start to show and the weight gain accelerates as we keep eating like we did while in high school. The junk food has more consequences and if we’re not too careful, we see our body change faster than we thought imaginable.

Hitting 30 is the first milestone when we start contemplating if we’re at the right point in your life. Have I satisfied my goals I after graduating from school? Did I luck out and find that special someone to spend the rest of my life with? Or did bad luck stay by your side as I live desperately trying to find the answer to turning my life around?

While these fears can torment a person, it’s important to remain optimistic.

We can’t dwell and stress out over the little things because they will take over our life and make it a living hell. It’s the little things, after all, that we must appreciate as we get older because everything can change overnight.

As I hit 30 earlier this week, I began evaluating everything that has happened since graduating from Fallon in 2003.

From a sports stand point, much has changed with the Greenwave as they now compete in the Division I-A, as opposed to Division I (the old 4A). Fallon wasn’t as good as it is now, mainly because of the difficulties competing against bigger schools. Volleyball was a staple in the community while I attended Fallon and wrestling and track and field were the most consistent boys sports.

Now, Fallon is doing great in all three seasons, including the baseball and softball teams winning state last weekend in Las Vegas.

But for me, much has changed as well.

After lettering in tennis for Fallon, I stayed with the game for a few years later but I haven’t picked up a racket in a long time. The urge to get back onto the court every time we take our kids to the park never leaves me. But in time, when our two girls get bigger, they might take an interest and give daddy a reason and opportunity to swing the racket one more time.

After receiving an Associate’s degree from Western Nevada College, the next step was a bachelor’s from the University of Nevada, Reno. Seven years ago this month, as a newlywed I walked off the UNR campus with a journalism degree as my family and friends gathered. A full-time job presented itself the month after where I’ve been chugging along now since 2008.

I have a beautiful wife and two amazing daughters to show for the rest of my journey after college. We welcomed Kyra Emerald to the world in 2009 and then her sister, Arabella Faith, three years later and two weeks before the Giants won the World Series for the second time since moving to the Bay Area.

While we hope life to be that feel-good story every day, there were a few obstacles for us to overcome as a young family.

My wife was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis a month after I graduated from UNR. Our older daughter had colic for several months and then experienced two seizures over my first Father’s Day weekend. We’ve stayed the course with our life and trusted the path and as I turned 30 this week, this has been the life I imagined when I was younger.

I wanted to go to college and then get a job. I wanted a family with a support system that comes second to none. It’s been the most humbling experience I could have ever imagined and it’s given me no reason to think that turning 30 is a bad thing. But, inevitably, it’s still the start to even more change.

We get older but at the same time, we gain more experience in life. Whether it’s raising a family or continuing the help report sports for this small but great community, you I become a better person.

While hitting this young milestone might scare people, it’s nothing that should be feared. It’s another checkpoint in our life for us to evaluate what we have done and hope to accomplish in the next stage. My life has its fair share of ups and downs, like everyone, but it’s how we choose to rise above and defeat those challenges instead of dwelling on what could have happened.

Thomas Ranson can be contacted at lvnsports@yahoo.com.