Weekly Reflections – Life begins at 40

This weekend we had the privilage of celebrating my dad’s 70th birthday with him. It was a tad bit early as his birthday is during the week and he lives fairly far from us. My cousin gave a little speech at the get-together that really got me thinking. He spoke about why “life begins at 40” and he made so much sense.

He explained that when we reach 40, we stop paying attention to the more frivalous things in life as well as other people’s opinions and we start living life on our own terms. We realise that we probably have fewer years ahead of us than we have behind us and that puts things into perspective for us. Being on the verge of 50 myself, I know exactly what he is talking about.

When I turned 40, things changed both physically and mentally. I felt lighter in some ways. I felt liberated because he is right, this is when you just stop worrying about other people’s opinions and what they want for you. I started focusing on what made me feel more fulfilled rather than just happy (there is a difference) and I started to question what my purpose was and how I was making a positive contribution to this world rather than blindly following what everyone else was doing. I have always walked my own path but half the time it was not done consciously and at 40, I found myself questioning if it was the path I still wanted to be on. I didn’t know it then but I started questioning my commitment to security and started looking for a path I could take to freedom.

I finally acknowledged that I wanted to pursue a career in psychology so I started studying towards a degree in it. I had always rented and didn’t have an issue with that but suddenly i wanted to put down roots for myself and my son so I took a leap of faith and bought property. This was huge for me as I had never liked the idea of being tired down to any thing or any one. I even have a new car. I drove the same car for 17 years!

Now 50 is creeping up on me and there is so much more evolving and growing that I would like to, and feel the need, to do. This past week, the Universe has been throwing rocks at me to let me know that it is time to make some changes. Even my cousin’s speech was a bit of a boulder…lol. It’s time to jump before I am pushed and we all know that when the Universe pushes, it can be through an unpleasant experience. So watch this space. The leap is coming. I know what it needs to be and I am just hatching up the courage to do it.

If you are 40 or over, I would love to hear what changes you found yourself making. Did you change careers? Did you move countries? Or where your changes more subtle but very meaningful to you?

I am sure you agree that at this point in our lives, we are not going through a midlife crises but arriving at a our happy place. We are more comfortable being ourselves and more accepting of others and their choices. I am enjoying getting older. Are you?

May you be happy

May you be healthy

May you be safe

May you live with ease

Loving Kindness meditation

Bye for now 🌼