The Big 4-0

So I turned 40 last month.  And you know what?  It was no big deal.

For a few months, I had been dreading the arrival of my birthday and being FORTY.  FORTY.  That sounded so much older than 39.  It's an entirely different decade, people!  But for some reason, several weeks beforehand, I began to look forward to the day with anticipation.  And I was actually excited to turn 40!  How on earth did *that* happen?

Leading up to turning 30, I thought I was going to be fine with it.  But I got really annoyed about leaving my 20s, and I was pretty much bitter the entire year whenever I'd remember my age.  It didn't help that my birthday started out with my co-workers decorating my cube with black and gray and "Over the Hill" decorations.  Nice, people.  Real nice.  And then a few days before I turned 31, I just decided "Eh, I don't care" and really no other age in my 30s was that big a deal.  39 seemed significant since it was my last year in my 30s, but it didn't bother me.

Anyway, I was afraid that 40 would be a year of bitterness, too, but I just feel a lot of optimism.  I truly feel like I'm only getting better with age.  I started thinking about women like Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rene Russo, Meryl Streep, Michelle Pfeiffer, Angela Bassett and Helen Mirren.  They're all older than me, and all pretty fabulous - it was inspiring!

I've found a weight-loss method that actually works for me (tracking my eating and exercising with the Lose It app for iPhone) and has motivated me more than anything I've tried before.  I've been losing weight at a steady pace and know that I'll be in better shape in my 40s than I was for pretty much my entire 30s.  I've been working through a great Bible study (the newly updated Breaking Free by Beth Moore) and feel like I'm gaining momentum spiritually.  I'm developing more patience as a parent.  Lots of areas that have been challenges for me in my 30s feel like they've been coming together, and I feel good about myself.

I'm just so glad that a milestone that I thought would be difficult is actually pretty great!