Turning 40

As my 40th birthday looms (a mere month away) I’m amazed by people’s reactions when I tell them I’m turning 40, the most common being, “YOU’RE turning 40?! Wow! You look great!”I’m so perplexed by this! I guess I could understand if I was turning 80, but I don’t think of 40 as old. Yes, by the age of 40 there’s no getting around the fact that you’re officially a grown-up, but I’ve been toying with this idea for a few years now, so I won’t be too shocked by the fact that yes, I’m actually an adult. I don’t know, I guess I know a lot of fabulous 40-year-olds. They’re having babies, they’re getting their doctorates, they’re changing careers, they’re creating careers… It’s a good age, an age where you feel relaxed,  powerful, capable of handling anything all by yourself. 
I’m scared to turn 40–it’s the official age where I have to clean up after myself. There’s just no one else to do it for me, except when I visit my parents and they do it for me. I’m a little scared of marching one step closer to mortality.
But I’m excited too. It’s a new decade. A new dance.And I’m exactly where I want to be. I’ve lived so many of my dreams: Learn to belly dance, check. Perform for thousands of people, check. Learn to play the cello, tiny check. Find my true love, check. Have a family, check. Share my life with the most extraordinary people on the planet, check.And I still have a lot more goals: play the cello in an orchestra, get my doctorate, learn to ballroom dance, learn to surf, write books… I have a long ways to go!I’m just getting started.