I have seven more days to claim status as a “thirty something” before I tumble over the ominous hill to reach forty.
Holy Cow…Me 40? I’m only 32 (in my mind)
I’ve got some mixed emotions on the matter.
On the downside, the big Four-O sounds old. People start telling you look good for your age instead of you just look good. My metabolism has apparently nose-dived again and all of a sudden I get body aches when I overdo it running or lifting weights at the gym. My heart is getting cranky and gravity and I are in a fierce battle for my perky parts.
I have a son starting High School for crying out loud. Somehow this really makes me feel really ancient. I remember High School. It was only a few years ago…right?
But as my body slowly decays, fortunately my brain and spirit are just getting warmed up.
Age has ushered in contentment, something that always eluded me when I was young. I adore where I am at, who I am with and the people and relationships surrounding me. It feels so good to stop striving. I can retire the heels and stop killing myself to be the “hot girl, the perfect mom, or the super-dee-duper Christian.” I think I’ll settle for simply being me –imperfections, quirkiness and all.
But I don’t think you just arrive in these places. It takes about forty years (give or take) to get there.
It takes suffering and pain and heartache to appreciate the simplicity and beauty of life. It means getting on your knees and crying out to God for understanding and then getting up the next day and the next day and doing it all over again.
And then one day you wake up and you are thirty-nine and you realize God is everywhere around you and has blessed you immeasurably more than you could ever ask or imagine.
Every day I get to sit down and write which makes me deliriously happy. I get to walk outside each morning and smile and chat with my beloved neighbors and on Sundays (and lots of other days) I can visit the church I helped plant with my husband. I have a glorious daughter with a sweet and happy nature like sunshine, a strapping son who has allowed me to be his biggest fan cheering him on from the sidelines, a toddler who takes Dora bubble baths with me every night and falls asleep in my arms, and best of all…a husband who would slay dragons for me. I have a wonderful family and dear friends who would travel all the way to the desert to toast me on my birthday.
It doesn’t get much better than this.
I think I like forty. Saggy earlobes and all…
Do you have a big milestone coming up?
