Via Your Tango Experts.com by Lisa Steadman:  I’d like to tell you that the Rubik’s Cube turns 40 this year. I’d like to tell you that Mr. and Ms. Pac-Man celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary this year. I’d like to tell you thatDrew Barrymore, Free to Be You & Me, Star Wars and I were all born in the same year, all turning 40 in 2011.

But it’s just not true. Those toys, video game icons, and pop-culture references are from my youth, but the conscious years, not the zygote years.

Having said that, there ARE some cool things/people turning 40 this year, right along with me. John Lennon’s song Imagine. Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry. And my girl Mary J Blige hits the big 4-0 right alongside me this year.

I am a week younger than Mark Driscoll. His birthday was last week.

Estee Lauder has become my best friend.

I still have a lot to learn.

I woke up this morning pretty much like any other. The alarm sounds, we hit snooze for 10 minutes, cherishing every last second of cuddliness before the second alarm, and then the forcing of the feet to hit the floor, stumbling crusty eyed into the washroom. Face wash, pee, brush teeth and so the day begins.

Turning 40 is kind of like New Year’s Eve. It’s supposed to be a big deal of some sort, but when it finally comes and there are no miraculous, life changing events, you just feel disappointed.

I’m not sure what I expected to happen today. I knew there’d be lots of facebook Happy Birthday messages and some face to face wishes. I knew I’d be looking forward to sushi and some great company at supper tonight, but on a deeper level I have been conditioned to believe something – bad or good – would happen.

Manchester Evening News

WE all like lists, but Terry Bland is more enthusiastic than most with his very own `40 under 40′ – forty things he has to do before he turns 40 on November 10.

So far he has ticked off driving a Bentley, singing with a live band and dancing with a Brazilian (on the pavement outside Bem Brasil!) – but the list gets more challenging . . .

Terry, MD of Manchester software development firm Gödel Technologies Europe, said: “I also have to get a tattoo, swim with sharks, have a go at fire eating, milk a cow and drive off on a Harley Davidson bike for a weekend.

I turn 40 at the end of the year and am stressed about it. I started a list of “40 things I want to do before i turn 40″ It has helped me to realize that there is not much I want to do…

I have done almost everything I wanted to. I only have 30 things on my list and am adding to it as I think of things.

From Palm Tree Pundit

Today
I’m 40. 40. You know, the number that appears in the Bible whenever
there is testing or trials — the number of days and nights of the flood, the number of years the Israelites wandered in the desert, and the number of days Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan, just to name a few.

So
I could focus on that aspect of turning 40, but I’m not going to do
that. Instead, I’m very thankful. In fact, I’m glad to be turning 40.
I’ve learned a few things along the way, and Lord willing, I’m not
finished learning. To commemorate the day, here are 40 things I’ve
learned, in no particular order:

1. I need the Gospel every day. Not just for Heaven.
2. I’m not always right. (My mom and dad will be really happy to see that!)
3. I have a wonderful husband. And I am right about that!
4. You really can learn to like whole-wheat pasta and brown rice.
5. When your baby cries, it’s okay.
6. Everyone is carrying a burden, even if you can’t see it.
7. Life is a series of adjustments.
8. Time flies.
9. Children grow up.
10. Boys are different from girls.
11. People think about you a lot less than you think they do.
12. When tempted to depression or anxiety, just do the next thing.
13. I’ll never have enough time to read all the books I want to read.
14. I don’t like cold weather.
15. If you didn’t have acne as a teen, you just might have it in your thirties.
16. Digging in the dirt is good for mental health.
17. Typing was one of the most valuable high-school classes I took.
18. A good friend is a precious gift.
19. It’s much more difficult to memorize things as you get older.
20. Basting yourself with baby oil and lying on a tanning blanket is a bad idea. You’ll see the results before you’re 40.
21. Avoiding confrontation never works out well.
22. I’m not the only one who doesn’t enjoy LOTR!
23. It’s okay to admit you don’t like a classic book.
24. Old dogs can learn new tricks.
25. I was stupid to quit piano.
26. Latin rocks!
27. You’re not obligated to answer the phone.
28. I will always have to be a weight watcher.
29. Never use a table as a step ladder.
30. Money spent on trendy clothes or decorative items is usually money I regret spending.
31. When in doubt, delete the post.
32. My mom was right: Tidy up the living areas before you go to bed. It makes for a better start to the next day.
33. My mom and dad were right about a lot of things.
34. Pray as soon as someone asks you to.
35. Always take something to read when you have an appointment. It will help you be patient.
36. Listen more. (actually I’m still learning this one)
37. You never know what you’ll end up doing in life.
38. Cellulite is here to stay.
39. Old habits are really hard to break.
40. I’m still learning.

I have a few quirky things about me. Those who know me and love me aren’t bothered by them—though they make fun of me at times for some of them. We all have them, but some of mine probably require therapy of some kind.

Before you label me obsessive compulsive or give me any kind of illness read my list and take a look in the mirror.

I am turning 40 on Sunday. So, I thought I would put some kind of a Top 40 list together. I had a lot of options because I love lists. I may do some other Top 40 lists this year but, for starters . . .

Here are 40 of my “quirks”—my peculiar habits, pet peeves, prejudices, and what have you.

In my blog wanderings and perusals over the past three years, I’ve seen many lists of “Forty Things to do Before I Turn Forty.” By the time I thought of composing my own, my time was seriously running out, and I was faced with either making a list of “Forty Things to Accomplish in the Next Nine Minutes” or of finding a creative alternative. (Allow me to offer a small bit of advice: given a choice between Lots of Potentially Emotionally Unhinging Work or a Creative Alternative, go for the latter.)

My alternative to the “Forty Things to do Before I Turn Forty” list? It needed to be something positive, something affirming, something that would help me appreciate the life I’ve had already and the one I have now rather than laying on the pressure to do more, accomplish more, be more. I needed not a list of things to do, but a list of wonderful things I have done in my first forty years, a list of appreciation and celebration. Therefore…

Forty Things I’ve Done Before Turning Forty

from the DailyRecord.co.uk

A NEW study has revealed 40 is the age when people are most likely to get depressed. The pressures of bringing up kids, relationships and ageing can leave people feeling miserable. But, if like Hollywood actress Ashley Judd you’re about to turn 40, it’s not all doom and gloom. Here Lisa Adams looks at the reasons to be cheerful about hitting the big 4-0

1 LET’S face it, 40 is the new 30 because people are living longer. Centenarians will become unexceptional within your lifetime, and the average life-span around the world is double what it was 200 years ago.

2 THERE’S no need to join Facebook or Bebo – you know who your friends are already.

In 2003 I wrote a blog about the souls who were born in 1962 and 1963 who were turning 40 and searching. Life, at each stage, is about finding what is important and trying to create balance for oneself and those they interact with. We are discovering how dysfunctional many souls are based on their genetic code.

At age 40 many souls simple ‘crash’ and drop out one way or another.

Age 40 has always been a pivotal time for people in terms of relationships, careers, goals and dreams. In a world that is spiritual evolving, people want to work at a job they are passionate about. Thanks to investments, savings, inheritance, winnings, selling their homes and living off the profits, disability benefits and other things that create income, many chose not to work, take up create pursuits, and look at their life to evaluate who they are and what they are about.

18 days until we mark the day that I was pushed into this realm of reality 40 years ago.

Turning 40 is disappointing,scary and exciting.

1. I am not a size 6 like I hoped I’d be
2. My hair is natural a natural, curly MESS
3. I own a house, my favorite car and dog
4. I am going on a cruise for 7 days with my daughter this summer
5. I am presently unemployed
6. I am going back to school in the spring
7. I am writing a book FOR REAL I got almost 200 pages
8. I found a kitten
9. I’m getting rid of the kitten by next week
10. I finally confessed how I feel to a man that I’ve been seeing for 4 yrs
11. I have been a very lonely person for a long time
12. I no longer have close dependable friends in my life
13. My son is homeless
14. My daughter is selfish
15. I am overweight by 80lbs
16. I am being interviewed as Moxy Woman for December and have no documentation of my accomplishments to share
17. My house is still a mess
18. I finished my island
19. My screen door is still not hung but it’s screened and sitting on the front porch ready
20. I found vitamins that I like
21. I am still depressed but I dont want to do meds
22. I am catching up on my netflix movies
23. I have a warrant out for my arrest
24. I am tired of faciliating the women’s group
25. I am going to powerwash my house this week
26. I am going to clean my garage out
27. I love italian toast with extra berries from Empire onWestheimer
28. I don’t eat as much as I used to
29. I like my hair most days
30. I miss my son
31. I really want new friends who live close. My old friends make promises they can’t keep
32. I’m getting my hairdone and a massage on my birthday
33. I love my dog Biko
34. I’m going to major in Psychology/Humanities
35. I need to find Choc-a-bloc
36. I’m scared to get a mammogram
37. I have no plans for New Year’s Eve
38. My brother and his family are supposed to come for Christmas dinner
39. I am still celibate and I’m not sure why
40. I am soooo looking forward to 40!!!!!!!!

From The Adventures of GrimJeff

Today is my last day in my 30′s, and as I look ahead to the arrival of my 40′s I thought I’d share some of my thoughts/feelings/observations on the subject. Because like it or not, it’s coming.

1) Where has all the time gone? No, I mean really?

2) I guess this means that I’m an adult now. Despite the onset of middle age, I still think of myself as a kid most of the time who’s masquerading as an adult.

Ebony, August, 1997 by Laura B. Randolph

Camille Cosby told it to Oprah and Oprah told it to me and, a few weeks ago, I told it to a Sister-friend who was feeling down, distressed and depressed because her life was about to take a dreaded turn. She was turning 40.

What Oprah told me Camille told her and I told my friend is this: “You should be out on your veranda dancing because you are about to experience one of the most magnificent, marvelous events in a woman’s life.”

“Oprah said that?” my friend asked incredulously.

“Well, those weren’t her exact words, but yeah.”

“You swear you’re just not saying it to make me feel better?”

“I swear.”

“Okay,” said my almost-40 friend. “Tell me everything she told You. Leave out nothing. Nada. Not a single word.”

Basically, if I understood Oprah correctly, it all comes down to this. At 40, something magical happens to you–something liberating and rejuvenating and exhilarating. You acquire a healthy disregard for what other people think. You gain the confidence to define yourself boldly and on your own terms. You don’t accept anyone else’s judgments but your own. In short, you stop living your life for other people and start living it for yourself. The force is with you because, at long last, it is in you.

“Before I turned 40, I used to always worry about what everybody thought about everything,” Oprah explained to me. “I get thousands of letters a week, and I used to pick the ones who didn’t like something about me and call them and try to make them like me. I tracked one woman down because she didn’t like my earrings.”

In her pre-40 days, when it was her, not just her earrings or her clothes or her hair, that people didn’t like, their criticism could send her over the edge. “I remember years ago I had a long conversation with Sidney Poitier and I was just weeping to him,” she told me. “And as I sat there crying, he said, `You have to remember you are carrying people’s dreams, and when you are carrying people’s dreams, oftentimes they put burdens on you that are not yours to bear. You have to decide what your dream is for yourself.’”

I turned forty yesterday.

Everyone I know has an opinion about turning 40, which seems to be a critical year in the life of a modern human being. In their responsivness to the issue of turning 40, there seem to be three main groups of people:

1. Those who say “It’s just a number.”
2. Those who say “You look great for your age.”
3. Those who say “It’s better than the alternative.”

Here’s the thing: they’re all right. And I’m feeling alright.