40 Funny And Painfully True Memes That Anyone Who’s “30 And Tired” Might Understand Perfectly (New Pics)

To gain some insight on what it's like to be in your thirties from an expert, we reached out to life coach and host of the Turning 30 Podcast, Emma Wilson. Many people have a crisis as they're leaving their twenties, so we wanted to know if life gets better in your thirties or if it's all downhill from there. "Life absolutely gets better in your thirties, but this is often a matter of perspective," Emma told Bored Panda. "Your thirties are a time when you are more mature and often more stable than in your twenties. You have a higher sense of self and more life experience, and this can result in having richer and deeper friendships and romantic partnerships and can make more thought-out personal and professional decisions."

"However, the pressure that society puts on a 30th birthday can often result in a turning 30 ‘crisis’, which so many experience," Emma explained. "Many people panic just before their thirtieth birthday because they start to feel the pressure from outside. It’s become this big thing, created by society, that can make us go into panic mode. There is something very loaded and charged about 30 specifically because society says you should have done certain things by this time, and if you haven’t done them yet, you may experience a feeling of being left behind or that everyone else is in a different stage to you and then you start to compare."

"This is often in relation to what I call the ’Turning 30 Manuals’- the expectation that we should be partnered, have children and own a property by the time you turn 30," Emma noted. "But for most of us these days, this isn’t the case, and it doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with us, just that we are on our own timelines. For those that get swept up in this comparison and paralyzed by the fear of being in their thirties and not feeling accomplished, can spiral into panic and this can trigger the feeling that life gets worse after you enter your 30s. However, many of the expectations to have done certain things by this age are outdated. The 30 Manuals are just fake benchmarks put onto us by society and the generations above us. We get to choose whether to let this panic effect us, or to be grateful about the privilege of ageing and to make the most of all the joys of growing up and the benefits that go along with it."

We also asked Emma if she had any wise words for people who are anxious about turning 30. "If you’re nervous about turning 30, I would start by asking yourself why," she told Bored Panda. "What is currently going on (or not going on) in your life that you would like to change? Use trigger thoughts around your milestone moment and really dive into them, use them as an invitation to ask big questions and make the changes that you want to. I think there’s nothing greater than someone who uses a birthday to go on a self-development journey - as cheesy as that sounds! It’s just a great time to ask questions and get to know yourself better."

"Understand that nothing magical is going to happen on the morning of your birthday," Emma explained. "There’s almost something illogical in our thinking around milestones. I think it’s important to just say that out loud to yourself, as it releases pressure. It’s just another day. Operating under pressure will never be conducive to getting where you personally want to be. Lastly, to reassure people that if you want to have a positive outlook on your thirties, you can choose to. I have worked with hundreds of people who have changed their mindsets about this decade."

Next, we asked Emma if there were any misconceptions about millennials that she wanted to dispel, and she was kind enough to reach out to her audience on Instagram asking for their thoughts as well. Some of the top responses Emma shared with us were: that you have to have your [stuff] figured out by 30; that everything goes downhill at 30; millennials spend all their money on brunch; if you’re single at 30 you are unhappy; if you’re single in your 30s you are desperate to meet someone and get married; millennials have it easier than the above generation; that they are scared of a hard day's work; once your twenties are over, all the fun stops.

"Although I love a funny IG meme, the whole narrative around turning 30 and getting a bad back is mostly not true in reality!" Emma told Bored Panda. "Sure the hangovers hit differently, and sure we have more ‘adult’ life pressures, but for a lot of people being in your thirties is your peak, emotionally and mentally and I love dispelling this misconception that it’s all stiff necks and night’s in."

Lastly, Emma wanted to add that there is often a double standard when it comes to the pressures of aging. "Something I think is a valid point is that I mainly work with women because the pressures that women feel at this age are usually more intense than those that men feel," she explained. "This is mainly linked to biological clock and society being obsessed with a negative image of women ageing. Therefore women often feel those expectations more strongly and panic more if they are single at 30-35, and they want to be mothers."

If you'd like to hear more wise words from Emma or reassure yourself that turning 30 is no big deal, you can find her Instagram right here and the Turning 30 Podcast right here.

The last time we covered the 30 and Tired Instagram account was about 4 months ago, and I know you people over the age of 30 don’t have the memory that you once did, so I’ll be happy to remind you of that piece. For that article, my colleague Rokas got in touch with Tyler Mann, the creator of this incredibly popular Instagram account, to gain some insight into how the page is run. “When it comes to finding a meme or an image, it could be from anywhere," Tyler previously told Bored Panda. 

"Some sources that stand out would be Imgur, Reddit, and other meme accounts that I've communicated with. I'll also think of memes while watching a show or movie or just walking around Target." Tyler explained that there are no hard and fast rules about what can be shared on the page. As long as he finds a meme funny and relatable to his own experience, it will likely be worth posting.