Celebrating Life After 40

In preparation for an inspiring interview last night with Anna Banks on her radio show “Living Fully After 40,” I reflected on the highlights of middle age. I discovered, while mentally unearthing the positive side of aging, that there are many benefits to this inevitable change of life. Those revelations did not take me by surprise. Personally, I think this is the best time of life. As far as I’m conce ed, my life has just begun. At 52 I’m living my dream life. I’m not talking about a material dream life; all I ever wanted was stability, serenity, and love. I now have all those things. The foundation of my life could not be any stronger. Though I strive for personal achievements, I’m not looking to those things for happiness. They will be icing on the cake. We should never stop striving to reach new goals. That is how we stay young in our mind. Our mind is our fountain of youth. As we age, we leave a trail of successes, failures, and hard earned lessons behind us. Those experiences are the bricks and mortar of our life. They have built us and delivered to this this exceptional station of our adulthood. We have had the benefit of time to evaluate our past, and now have the wisdom and experience to reevaluate the present. With the advantage of hindsight we have hopefully learned to trust our own judgement and listen to our intuition. At this point in life, we know ourselves. The impact we used to feel from other’s judgement has dwindled down. Others opinions are taken with a grain of salt. We are more outspoken with our thoughts and feelings. And we tend to live our life with more honesty. Our happiness and successes are defined by our own terms–we can walk to the beat of whatever drum we choose. Many of us have established a spiritual foundation, whether through religion or of our own design. That foundation helps to carry us through difficult times. We are more willing to accept the things we cannot change, difficult as that may be at times, but easier when trusting in a power greater than ourselves. At this time of life, many of us are, or are soon to become empty nesters. For those of us who have spent the last 18+ years raising children, this means redefining ourselves as something other than parents. Though we enter scary, unchartered waters, it is also a rebirth for us; a time to pursue our personal interests and whatever dreams we may have. It is a time to discover hidden talents. As our outer beauty changes in ways we wish it wouldn’t, our inner beauty blossoms and radiates until it overshadows our outer shell. We become more exquisite than we have ever been. Hopefully by now we have learned to love ourselves, to nurture our souls. We may not all be there yet, but we are much more aware of its importance. My forties were wonderful but my fifties are exceptional. I am embarking on a new journey that is exciting for me. I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. As long as I have stability, serenity, and love in my life, I will always be happy. To listen to the interview go to: http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.blogtalkradio.com%2Flivingfullyafter40%2F2010%2F12%2F13%2Fcodependency-secrets-of-a-fine-life-with&h=c9f06- Love Always, http://www.randigfine.com