At Forty …

Let’s be honest — as our birthdays come faster and faster, they bring a full range of emotions. It can feel a little like a heart monitor: up & down, up & down. But depending on your attitude, you just might hear the music behind that beat.

As my B I G 4 0 approaches, I find myself listening to the music from my almost-forty-year-old life library.

When I was young, I expected forty to feel like “over the hill.” Or maybe even “life is over at forty.”But truthfully? Thirty was much harder.

The music I hear today sounds like acceptance, adventure, authenticity, change, gratitude, kindness, love, and an abundance of memories.

Maybe I just see the glass half-full now. At thirty, it definitely looked half-empty.

Either way, I’m here. I survived the last decade — and I’ve got a boatload of experience, wisdom, and memories to prove it.

I’m looking at forty as four perfect 10’s.

Sure, there’s a big difference between twenty and forty — but there are some things that are same-same-but-different.

So, if you’re about to hit this milestone (as I will in just a week), here are a few truths that are resonating with me:

At forty, I still cherish memories like I’m building a high school yearbook.

But now that yearbook is in pieces — drawers and boxes filled with printed photos, magazine clippings, and mementos I haven’t had time to organize, much less scrapbook.

At forty, I still dream like nothing can stop me.

But I dream more for others than I do for myself.

At forty, I still think of others.

But the handwritten note I meant to send is buried under a pile of unopened mail — and may never make it to the mailbox.

At forty, I still look for beauty in the world.

But now I see with forty-year-old goggles — more clarity, more compassion. And I love swapping those for toddler goggles when I get the chance.

At forty, I still say I’m sorry.

But I don’t wait for the perfect timing.

At forty, I still get disappointed.

But now I seek God’s wisdom and comfort, not just justice.