Congratulations, you're 30 and have survived your first Saturn return!

                                   18 with 12 years experiance!!

Everyone seems to dread turning 30. But what most approaching 30 don't realize is that in your third decade of life you will still have your youth but now you will also have wisdom in equal measure. And wisdom is your reward for surviving your first Saturn return.

The planet Saturn takes roughly 29 years to make a full circle of the zodiac. This means that for every person age 28/29 (the again at 56+.) transiting Saturn returns to the same degree in the sky that it was at when you were born.

As a prelude to the Saturn return young adults enjoy their second Jupiter return at about age 24. The planet Jupiter takes roughly 12 years to make a full circle of the zodiac so every person, when they are about 12 years old, and then again at 24 (yet again at 36, 48, etc) experiences a transiting Jupiter return.

Jupiter is the planet of luck, abundance, extravagance, faith and optimism. Like happy-go-lucky Jupiter, young adults at age 24 set off with the highest of hopes, an innate faith and optimism about their chosen field and their future. Jupiter also represents opportunities and the mid 20's are the time when you feel like the world is an open and exciting place. You socialize, you date, you party...this is understandably a high point in many young lives.

Then WHAM!!! You turn 27 and realize that soon you'll be 30!!!

During your late 20's you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like. You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two, then you get scared because you barely know where you are now.

You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones.

You look at your job and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realize you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you. Whatever the case you begin to thinking very seriously about what you're doing with your career, your love life and your life in general..

You see what others are doing and find yourself judging them more than usual because you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.

Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try clinging to the past, but you soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you.
Or you lie in bed and wonder why you can't meet someone decent, someone you'd want to spend your life with. One night stands and random hook ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot doesn't seem so much fun anymore.

You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself..

Welcome to your first Saturn return. You've had fun and some opportunities in your early and mid 20's but now your task is to turn a practical, disciplined eye to the issues of responsibility, reputation and commitment. Saturn's return to it's place of birth is a crucial time in your life.

Saturn urges caution, realism and hard work. If you've already been living in tune with these values, perfecting your career and your relationships with effort and integrity, Saturn can be generous and rewarding. But if your path has been meandering, less conscientious and more filled with fun and games, you're in for a firm but fair reminder that there are rules in life you must follow in order to achieve success.

Saturn doesn't care what you do...only that you do what you love to do and do it with honor, integrity and in a responsible way. And when you do that, Saturn strengthens and reinforces your ability to do it well.

While many find their patience and their bank accounts to be at a frustrating low during their Saturn returns, others find large bonuses, wedding rings or babies in this melee. And even if your Saturn return is difficult (and parts of it are for almost everyone), that doesn't mean you did something ‘wrong’ and you don’t deserve to be rewarded, but rather that there may be something even better out there for you. So while it is important to be sensible during the Saturn return, it is also essential to remain flexible and open-minded. Solutions will present themselves.

So don't worry about turning 30, it just calms everything down, you'll have nothing to prove to anyone but yourself, people will take you more seriously and you'll still have that youthful energy to make amazing things happen, your outlook on life will suddenly improve and things will feel more purposeful.

Turning 30 is nothing to be dreaded and in fact something to be relished. Ultimately, your thirties will be what you make of them, and you've probably learned enough lessons throughout your twenties to make your new decade even better than the last!