FORTYlicious, here it comes!

The new F word in my dictionary- FORTY! The so-talked-about milestone of 40. Somehow, I keep hearing from every corner about this breakthrough age. The ’40s is the new 20’s, really is it? Though I recently read somewhere that 40’s the old age of the youth and 50’s the youth of the old age. This makes more sense, isn’t it?  Three years back when I had started blogging, I always knew I would surely write a blog on turning 40. I was seriously waiting for this day to come. Why so?? I may not have a definite answer but for sure with complete conviction I can say that this is such age when we finally get our head together, though the body starts to fall apart. This is altogether a different story, will come back on that one too, soon!

Coming back to the topic let me first clarify, ‘Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter(quoted text)’. So you would have read and heard a lot around that life begins at 40. But what is it that ends at 39? So what has suddenly changed in the last one year? Nothing much I guess. Just one year! Let me try and explain a little better here.

The Number Game

Have you ever experienced that catch when you go out to a shopping store and you see a product worth Rs.399 and a product worth Rs.449 and suddenly the former feels a lot more worth than the latter? I mean just a difference of a few bucks but it definitely appears to be a lot cheaper. So does it not play with optics? It does, without question.  This is exactly how I am feeling right now. Though just a change of one year, however, I can never say again that I am in my 30’s or maybe nearing 40 or maybe late 30’s. The 30s are officially over for me and a new decade has begun. It does, does make a difference optically, mentally, and physically.

Hey, don’t think that I am not delighted to be 40. I am quite happy with my age and experience, to count on. Every decade comes with new learnings, new challenges, and new experiences. In the 20’s we were more bothered about what people thought about us. Age of love and romance, that adolescent age where we almost fall for a life partner, starts altogether with a new life with a companion. In 30’s we actually beat around the bush to manage careers, kids, inlaws, family, social obligations, etc. That is when we come across the famous term ‘Work-life balance’. And then comes the famous 40’s. By then we envisage, THIS IS LIFE, THIS IS REALITY, that’s how it will go, so let things go and don’t go by the rules.

They say we learn from our mistakes. That’s why we make as many as possible by the age of 40 so that we can live happily henceforth. And that age for me has now commenced!

Simple Pleasures

What change have I experienced, now that I have reached the age of FORTYlicious? Not that it has come in a day or two but surely over the last 5 years.

An age when comfort is preferred over style;
Age when you are ready to shell out more money just for convenience. Someone said it so rightfully, convenience comes for a cost, and one should not be penny-wise foolish!
An age when we do not care about how people think about us because we discover that they were not thinking about us at all;
When you ask me what I am doing today and I say nothing. It seriously means ‘ I wish to do nothing’ and not that ‘I am free for you’.
An age of so-called ‘middle age’ when age actually starts to show around the middle (I mean the tummy!);
An age when linens are more preferred over synthetics or when silk looks more attractive than chiffon;
Fun Fridays are more of binge-watching and no more pub hopping. You know that feeling when you just sit back and unwind while sipping a cup of coffee cozy on the couch;
Makeup means following more of a nighttime cosmetic routine rather than concealers and foundations (you know those thin fine lines which have just started to show up!);
Biopics are more engrossing than any other thriller;
Age when we turn off lights more for economic reasons rather than romantic reasons;

An age when you feel more fulfilled, more relaxed, more confident, and a lot more grateful for little things in life. Life is always happening and evolving around us, as we too happen and evolve.  As I look to the next season of my life, I look forward to being a person of simple pleasures, with more power and more wisdom. But never forget to say, I am just 18 with 22 years of experience!

PS: I am so envious of my husband who still has a few more months to go for FORTYlicious!