So I went ahead and had a mid-life crisis!
Well, maybe not a crisis, but turning 40 really was a mind f*ck.
It isn’t JUST turning 40 that messes with you…it is everything leading up to turning 40 that seems like a moment of no return.
And I know…I know that 40 is still young. 40 is the new 30. Bla bla bla.
Totally agree…I guess.
But then I cried. I really just cried on the morning of my birthday. It hit me!
Turning 40 Does Something to a Person
No matter what you tell yourself, 40 is still a big milestone and a hard one to come to grips with.
And yet, that was entirely the reason that I chose to retire early and spend more time with my family.
Life IS short.
I remember turning 30 just yesterday.
I dutifully made my list of 30 things to do before I turned 40, but then life happens.
Kids happen.
And now, in what seems like the blink of an eye, I am 40.
My wife took it hard too, probably harder.
Women get the short end of the stick when it comes to facing down a certain biological clock that men don’t have to deal with.
And so anyway. We both turned 40.
I continue to remind myself that when I look back at 50, 60, 70, and 80, 40 will seem like nothing.
But you can’t disregard that turning 40 does something to a person.
It makes you consider if you really are living the life that you want.
It reminds you that life is going by way too fast.
And it also tells you that there is no better time than now to seize the moment.
So after weeks of putting it off, I finally decided to make my list of 40 things to do before I turn 50.
The problem is that it all seems so futile.
It’s not that I don’t want to DO those things, but is DOING things all that life is about?
Creating a bucket list and checking off items once? NO.
That is NOT it. That can’t be IT.
Checking things off your bucket list…as great as it is to do, they don’t sustain a person. Not in the long run.
Relationships do.
Hard work does.
Financial independence does.
Joy and love always do.
But most of all, finding ways to be in the NOW.
Those are the things that truly sustain a person.
Turning 40 just like any regular old day.
But it’s also a wake-up call….a time to reflect.
It’s a reminder that life IS short. It ALWAYS has been.
And if it’s not a mind f*ck, then I don’t know what is!
Life is short indeed. Gratitude goes a long well, pausing and reflecting about how fortunate you have been. Halfway through 4000 weeks.
BUT – you now, probably, have at least 20 years of dealing with the crap that life shovels at you. That, should give you the necessary
knowledge and experience to sort out all the crap that life will throw
at you in the next 20. Don’t worry – some body who is living the life
they want, is already ahead of the game – you’re doing fine. Look
around you at the poor sods, a lot might have started off with more
advantages than you, who are on a treadmill of a rubbish job/ tied to
the debt treadmill.
100% agreed. I think this day in age, getting off the debt treadmill and building your own financial independence is probably the number one thing you can do to start to craft the life you really want. No doubt about it!
Aptly stated, young man. Cheers to the now.
Thank you! And yes, cheers!