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Recently my sweet friend Shannon blogged about how she is soon going to turn 40. As I read her post, I also started thinking about myself turning 40. I have just under a year and a half and I will hit that milestone.

Wow, the Big 4-0.

I am more than likely about half-way through my time on this side of Heaven.

Age is something that haunts me. I remember being terrified of turning 15. 15 can you imagine? I have no idea what was so scary about it now, but I was really scared. I am not talking about being a little nervous about it; I had full blown depression over it.

I look back at 15 now and think – Wow that was the beginning of a great couple of years for me.

I was in high school. I did a lot of traveling with band and girl scouts. I had a great group of friends and really enjoyed life.

As I am facing 40 soon, I am starting to get a little nervous again. I can only hope that as I move closer to that date, I can see that it will be a great time in my life.

Currently I have a great group of friends in my life, and I have been doing a lot of traveling in the last 2-3 years.

So instead of letting it haunt me, I am going to try to look forward to having a great couple of years and really enjoying life.

Stacy

via Me & The Boyz: Aging.

Hi I turned 40 1st July, I am thankful I went thru the big aging dilemma when I was about 36- it took me bout 18 months to get over. It ended with the inevitable, hey nothing can stop it so why worry? Why freak out about it? NOTHING gonna stop it : ) !! Crazy how long it took for me to really feel it but I did. And I’m glad that I did b4 now as I think going thru it when I turned 40 would’ve been worse. I’m still annoyed, to say the least, that the cruel irony of aging is that the only ones who know that it doesn’t mean anything- its only the outside that ages- ur still exactly the same person- are the ones who ARE getting older. The ones still in their 20’s & 30’s don’t know it yet… I am glad I have a life partner to share it all with I think turning 40 would’ve been a bit harder had he not been here.

You know, this whole idea of turning 40 years old is really getting to me. In 19 days I will have lived four decades, nearly half a century, that’s halfway to 100 years! To some people it’s “just a number.” To me, though, it’s a major step in my life that I really don’t want to take.

When I was a child, I thought 30 seemed old. That age came and went without any issues at all. Turning 40, though, seems like jumping into a bottomless abyss or something. Once I take that step off the edge, I”ll have no control over what happens to me and no way to stop the fall.

At 40, my life is more than half over, statistically speaking. This first half of my life flew by! Will I be 80 just as quickly?

My parents are both gone. My mom had a stroke at 71 and my dad died from cancer. My mother didn’t suffer much but my dad lingered on a little while. They lived long lives and made an impact on those around them, but in just a few generations, no one will even remember they existed. I don’t want to be lost to history.

My mother-in-law is still living. She’s 83, or somewhere around there. She doesn’t own a computer, just got touch tone phone service a few years ago and still drives around on Saturday mornings to pay her bills. I’m afraid of falling behind the times as she has done and being lost in society.

If she gets a letter from her bank, she always calls my wife and asks her to come explain the letter. I’m afraid of not being able to understand the tasks of daily life or make decisions on my own, as seems to be happening to her. Oh, she’s all there mentally, she just doesn’t understand the “modern” way of doing business.

I don’t like the idea of turning 40 at all. I see older folks around me having a hard time keeping up with the times. I see them suffering through financial hardship with no chance of ever getting out of it. All they’ve worked for seems to have gone up in smoke. What’s the point of it all?

My children are 15 and 17. I’m kind of looking forward to them being out on their own because my wife and I had children early and didn’t really get the chance to enjoy being a married couple. At the same time, though, I’m afraid of not being needed anymore.

Can you tell this is really, really bothering me?

Written by Barryo

When I was 30 I dreaded the thought of turning 40 – it was going to be terrible…I just knew it. Well 40 is here and quite frankly…it was no big deal.  In fact my life is better than ever – I’ve recently had my first baby and I feel and look great…other than some of that baby fat that is hard to get rid of around the midsection. I’m secretly afraid that someone will ask me someday if I’m her grandma but thankfully people always just ask me if she’s my “first.”

I keep reading all the time in beauty mags and even on the bulletin boards that 40 is some type of major threshold – you shouldn’t wear sparkly or shiny makeup, you should cut your hair, not wear short skirts or shorts and on and on. I love to sparkle, I love my long hair and I would wear shorts every day if I could.

So is 40 really a big deal? I don’t think so. What about you?

Do you feel and/or look 40? I sure don’t feel it! How about you?

 http://community.qvc.com/topic/Beauty-Banter/Hype-Age-40/10100000987

For many, turning forty is a dreaded day. Somehow a stigma has been associated with it that has resulted in some individuals spending days in mourning. Thousands of men and women each year allow the marketing industry to impress a depressing anticipation into their attitudes and actions. That being, that turning forty is a dreaded moment that influences all the days to follow in a negative manner. It has even been reported that on occasions, depressed individuals have resorted to alarming measures.

This book is about life, and a part of life is accepting the fact of aging to be ingrained within the process of living. The time that is spent in living is an investment. We can choose to make this investment with growling and complaints or we can choose to make it with grins and compliments. Regardless of which path we choose to travel, of this we can be certain – Time Is Never Regained.

In Facing Forty (or any age) Forthrightly, author Dan Jarrard presents 5 areas that will greatly assist in making the life-journey more successful.

Take Time To MEDITATE: it is the PATH TO VIRTUE
Take Time To Be HEALTHY: it is the SECRET OF YOUTH
Take Time To LAUGH: it is the MUSIC OF THE SOUL
Take Time To Be FRIENDLY: it is the KEY TO FRIENDSHIP
Take Time To DREAM: it is the HITCHINGPOST FOR BALANCE

Turning 40 has so many expectations!!! What about a woman who turns 40 and is married with no kids? That sure does raise more eyebrows than just the age itself. Even at 39 people thought “poor you, but there is hope”. Hey- ever think some people just don’t want to have children? hmm Hopefully at 40 the questions about why no kids will finally cease. Ahh.. a good thing about the new decade in life!