I just turned 41 years old. I'm not going to lie, 40 hit hard. Really hard. And it didn't hit all at once. As a matter of fact, my 40th birthday wasn't really all that bad. It was the six months following turning 40 that caused the most emotional turmoil for me. It was the realization sinking in that I would never again be 30-something, the time I had to ponder what being 40 meant that caused me pain.
If anyone knows me, they know I love Friends. I became an adult with the "friends." I graduated high school in 1993. Friends first aired in 1994. And Friends has now been a part of my life for...22 years! I'm going to pause for a brief mental breakdown after doing that math.
Anyway, I am incapable of telling a story without making a Friends reference at this point in my life, so I figured there would be nothing more appropriate than explaining my thoughts on turning 40.... on being 40....with Friends gifs. And here is what I have realized about hitting 40....
1. My children are going to leave me, and I'm afraid they will be so happy to get away from me that they'll never look back.
2. Half of my life is most likely over. And the next half doesn't lead to adulthood like the first half did. It leads to old age and death.
3. Why am I here? Seriously. Somebody tell me. It occurred to me shortly after my 40th birthday that I no longer have goals or dreams. I don't even know what to do with that information.
4. Why haven't I been out of this country? To New York? On a cruise? How did I make it to 40 with no passport?
6. I'm a grown up. I keep looking around and noticing everybody is getting younger. When did I become the oldest one in the room? I'm not responsible or wise enough for this. I still listen to boy bands and watch Disney Channel.
7. I'm going to lose people I can't imagine living without. This fact pops into my mind way too often. I'm not going to linger here....because I just can't.
8. I'm so old that I'm currently counting down the years to retirement...and there are fewer years to retirement than there are years I have worked.
9. I can no longer handle loud noises. Why in the world must teenagers listen to music so loud? If I can hear the music coming out of their headphones, it's too darn loud.
10. I have hair in strange places. Why don't people warn you about this? It's weird. I don't like it.
11. I can't move after a few hours (*cough* minutes) of yard work...or, to be honest, after sitting down for more than 10 minutes at a time.
12. My bed is my favorite place in the world.
13. I need to wear makeup because I'm old, but I don't feel like wearing makeup....because I'm old. And I must also mention that I have WAY more zits at 40 than I ever did at 14.
14. I know why old people go to bed early. My eyes can't focus past 9 o'clock. They dry up like cotton balls and beg for mercy.
15. I can't sew, cook, knit, or grow flowers. What in the world am I going to do when I retire?
16. I am going to be a crappy grandmother because I can't sew, cook, knit, or grow flowers. I can pretend, but I think they'll figure out I suck.
18. The only thing I have to look forward to about getting older is shrinking...which I'm sure is nature's way of laughing at us for trying to be thin all of our lives. Goodness knows I love me a good dessert.
19. My memory is so bad that I often forget why I walked into a room. But what bothers me most is that I have forgotten a great deal of my children's childhoods.
20. I am blessed. I have the best husband in the world. I have three healthy, strong daughters. And I have a God who never gives up me even though I fail him what must be every second of the day. How in the world do people get through life without the hope I have in Jesus? I would be utterly lost without Him.
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