Ok-turning 40 did not seem like a big deal 6 months ago. But a had dinner with a couple of girlfriends a couple of months ago, and I was informed that I will be tuning 40 next year (this was last year) and are you planning to do anything? The question caught me off guard because 1-I wasn't thinking about my birthday, and 2-the fact that I was turning 40 never entered my always busy brain. I was planning Hayden's 3rd birthday, but my birthday didn't seem that important, until I realized that it was a milestone birthday...
Truthfully, I never imagined that I would be 40. Not that I didn't think I would live that long, but it always seemed so far away. When you are little 20 seems old, and when you are 20, 30 is old, and 40 is ancient, and when you are 30 you kind of stop counting unless you are pregnant and they start treating you like you are the oldest woman in the world to have babies and you need to make sure that you be careful about EVERYTHING (well, that's how the docs made me feel with I was pregant with Hayden at 36!).
I'm going to be 40. Should I be feeling a certain way? I'm not really dreading it (I've just moved up to another age bracket for surveys), I don't feel 40, not that I know how 40 should feel. A couple of friends have already turned 40, and they don't seem any different. No midlife crisis, no trying to party like you were in your 20's, no plastic surgery (boob lift's don't count, Carrie).
People, places, magazines attempt to categorize you when you reach a certain age, and well 4o might as well be on death's doorstep. You can't do the things you did when you were 20, well duh, I'm older and know better...the 30's are a kind of weird in between stage...and 40 is when you are supposed to be increasing your vitamins because your body is slowly breaking down...
Well, I refuse to be categorized, if you are hung up on a number than that's your problem. I am as old as I feel, and I don't feel 40..I don't feel 20, but I don't feel 40.
So here is what's going to happen..I am going to go have dinner with my mom the night before, go to Disneyland with my boys on my birthday, and then celebrate with my friends the next evening...and ring in 40 like an adult. I may get completly plastered (after only 2 drinks-I'm a lightweight)-but HEY! it's my birthday!
Then I will continue life as I have been, raising my son (and husband), working (although a career change may be in order...), socializing (FaceBook has given me back a social network of REAL friends that I really enjoy hanging out with) and being ME! I will always want to upgrade to the latest and greatest electronic device, sit on the floor and play with puppies, yell and scream at hockey games even if my team is losing, enjoy pb & j sandwiches and yummy cake with extra frosting..
So for those of us turning 40 this year...let's give a finger to those who label us and raise a glass in celebration!!
1 comment:
great post joy!
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