A good day to ponder

In two days I will become 40 years old, but in a very dominant way I have been 40 for the last 40 years.

When I was young I always sat with the adults listening to them talk, once in a while saying something that would make them all laugh, for hours enjoying the camaraderie of my fellow adults. Eventually the conversation would change and I would be sent to play with my sister and cousins.

I remember my parents getting hassled because the movie ticket person never believed I was still in the free or child's ticket age range, I was just to mature no matter my size.

In school I always had friends, I was friends with everyone, no one group for me, I spanned the cliques and fit in everywhere. I was always the friend that boys and girls came to for advice, and from a young age I gave mature advice, good advice. This isn't ego, I saw the world in a way that my friends and family didn't... I knew... I knew how to advise, how to cope, how to get by as myself not bending to the pressure of how other thought I should have behaved. I was from birth how my 40 and older friends are starting to tell me they feel.

Needless to say it was a common comment with my friends and family that I was born at 40. I was stable, established, sitting well in my own skin. I was mature for my age at 2. So what does that mean for the next 40 years?

Now that I have finally reached the age I was born at... what next?

In my high school years I believed I wouldn't make it to 40, now here I am and I am happy I made it, though I lost too many friends along the way. I didn't believe I would make it to 40 until... well... I met Husband. He was a great yin to my yang. I brought out the, adventure, fun and silly in him, where he taught me caution, stability and love in a way I never imagined. And laughter... no one makes me smile or laugh harder than Husband.

So for my 40th celebration Husband took me to Disneyland... the best place to go for anyone over 9 years old in my opinion... And I laughed, and I screamed, and I talked non stop to the man I have loved for 17 years, and I am undeniably lucky.

SO I am happy to continue being me at 40+ or 5, my preferred maturity age (especially when swing sets are around). Loving myself for who I am and always feeling comfortable in my own skin. Surrounding my self with family and friends who love me for who I am and are happy to have me around because I love them for who they are. I will resist the urge to yell at the kids on my front lawn, I will resist getting cranky with this new generation and what ever they are doing that doesn't make sense to me.  But most importantly to me, I will continue to be optimistic, open minded, and expect the best in everyone, because once you stop doing those thing, no matter your age, you are simply old.