Thirties' Eulogy

This moment has found me in great mood, wearing my newly acquired pink jumper while sipping from a matcha by an airport window.

The day started slightly differently though, with a numb headache accompanied by chamomile tea and porridge for breakfast. In my defence, I’m still not used to the side effects of going out. It was only some years ago when I could easily even play a morning game after a night out. But things really do change at 30. Don’t get me wrong, there are not only bad things happening when entering the 3^rd decade.

You’re more confident, even after making a draw vs a 10 yo or after playing only against one older opponent out of the 9 rounds.

You get more respect, like two nights ago when I knocked on the neighbouring hotel room door asking them to keep the noise down and a 15 yo kid looked at me in complete terror and said ‘Sure, sorry Ma’am.’  I was so surprised by his reaction that when I returned to my room I checked how I looked in the mirror. I didn’t see anything terrifying, but who knows, maybe my assessing skills got rusty with age. By the way, there were no noises at all for the rest of the night.

What other good things are there at 30? Ah, one earns more! In this tournament for example I became richer by almost 100 euros for my 9^th place - not bad for 10 days of work.

One also gets healthier habits. I only skipped breakfast once here. Not that I have any serious stomach issues, yet, but when you only have the breakfast covered and the probability you play well and win the coveted hundred bill is not too high- you use that thinking skills you’re supposed to possess and go eat breakfast.

Relationships are better in your thirties too. You know a lot of interesting people to whom you show affection by avoiding them by all means because the memory of the last morning filled with side effects is still fresh. Good thing is that recollection becomes less reliable at this age, so you don’t have to wait too long for that memory to vanish like it never even existed. I’m sure that in a few weeks, ok, ok, let’s be honest- days, I’ll completely forget how this morning started.

Let me think, what other good things are there?