40 Before 40

40 Before 40

Gah. The last 4 months of my 30’s…

crap.

I smile at the thought that some of you reading that will think “omg, you’re a baby still” and others will be all “you’re so old!”.

(Along those lines, I was told recently that a woman half my age couldn’t believe I was late 30’s. She meant it as a comment/complement that I looked ‘young for my age’ but all I could think was, ‘yep, I remember when late 30’s seemed long in the tooth.)

So with my next decade fast approaching, I am looking at my beautifully cliched

List of 40 Before 40 in 4 Months

1. Write 40 poems

2. Run 40 miles

3. Gift 40 things

4. Make a list of 40 important memories/moments from my 30s

In creating my list, I wanted it to be accomplishable and I wanted to cover: a creative/mental challenge, a physical challenge, a community outreach task, and a reflection task.

(FYI, the Run 40 Miles is literally 40 miles total, not consecutively. I have very little desire to run lately but I do want, for many reasons, to get back into the habit of including it weekly into my routine.)

I’ve already started on Number 1, 10 poems down, 30 to go. I’ll leave you with this one.

I preferred when it was next year

(if we’re going on preference,

Many “next years” worked for me…)

I preferred when it was your turn

“That’s cool, I’ll pass on this opportunity, you go ahead, I’ll stick with 30s”

40 feels raw. And wrinkly. And Gray.

I know I will look back, shaking my well worn head, and coo;

“oh Faithala, how adorable you were as a youngster of 40, thinking that was wrinkly, achy, gray.”

And yet. It’s all mine for this moment, all I know, the minutiae of now.

P.S. I would love to be welcomed into the 40s club with any words of wisdom, advice, encouragement from those who know 🙂