Reflections on Turning 40

With my 40th birthday just around the corner, I've been contemplating the seasons and chapters of my journey. I've had an action-packed youth. Never a dull moment. Ever. I know people who are always bored, just looking for something to do. That has never been me, I've always had so much to do that I never have time to get it done. Never a dull moment, I'm telling you. Yes, my youth was a wild adventure.

But it’s time to turn a new chapter. If there was ever any doubt before, I am now fully an adult. I have been for over half of my life (legally) but I think I just got the memo, now that 40 is around the corner. 

Yes, I know I don't look my age. I hear it all of the time from casting directors & make-up artists. It's both flattering & frustrating. There's plenty of 40-year-old roles that I WANT & they won't cast me in. 

BUT my insides are older, with the cardiac/neuro/gastro issues, so I guess it evens out. 

I exercise, I practice yoga & mediation. I love Pilates. I go for nature walks. I hike. I hug trees. I do things that are good for my soul. And I will embrace aging, as another season in my life.

But it’s only a matter of time before the outer catches up. 

I just wonder if it will be gradual or will I just wake up one day and be old? At first I couldn't stand the little signs of aging here & there. As the Southern girl in me says, "I ain't gonna have it!" 

But now, it all makes me smile. Yes, SMILE. Because it means that I’ve made it. I wasn’t supposed to live to even be 5-years-old with all of my congenital defects. But I’m here. Staring 40 in the face! I’m here. And that should be celebrated.

I look forward to whatever lies in store, all of the lines on my body will mean a life-well traveled. They will tell a story. And I embrace that and celebrate it.