Hahh, what a week! I had to disengage myself from blogging activities in order to concentrate on other more pressing matters. Matters like making a presentation in a conference, writing and submitting my proposals, rewriting a paper for a journal, submitting an abstract to another conference, yada, yada, yada. March is always the busiest time of the year, which, incidentally, also coincides with the end of the fiscal year here in Japan. Anyway, I’m glad that I’ve completed most of the tasks I needed to do. I can breathe now, thank you very much! On a brighter note, the sakura (cherry blossoms) are already in full bloom, and we can enjoy viewing them this week! Yay!
Well, there is a particular topic that I want to write about in this post. Thing is, I’m turning a year older tomorrow. It’s no big deal, right? 🙂 Everyone else will turn a year older this year. But for some reason, I’m having a “When Harry Met Sally” reflective moment. Ok, sure, 40 is still several years down the road, but hey, I will turn 40…someday! To paraphrase Sally’s outburst: “Forty…it’s just there, waiting!”The big four-oh is hurling towards me, like it or not. Some people I personally know are already ranting about turning 40 – and for some reason, they end up buying themselves some expensive stuffs. Maybe to make themselves feel better? Is it really that bad? I couldn’t help but think that pretty soon, our batch in college will be writing emails with similar angst about turning 40 in our mailing list.
In a way, I can understand what the fuss is all about. When I was 10, 20 seemed ancient. Old. Scary. Unthinkable, even. When I turned 20, I realized that it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Twenty was…cool. I got to be independent; I got recognized as an adult in my own right. I was happy to displace my idea of ancient to the more distant age of 40. Forty seemed like lightyears away.
Thirty came, and I realized, hey, this is almost like 20, but with more independence, more money, and less parents breathing down my neck. Emancipation!!! Earn a living, start a family, settle down in domestic bliss. Check, check, check.
When I do hit 40, how would 80 sound? Like my Mom would say, “isang bulate na lang ang hinihintay na pumirma sa kontrata.” lol
When I turn 40, would I end up looking back at how I spent half of my life (given that I would actually live until 80), and gripe about the things I have failed to do? Would I be forced to take a long, hard look at where my career has gone and feel satisfied, or would I end up beating my head for making bad decisions? Would I feel bad if I still haven’t amassed enough wealth to secure a comfortable life without having to work my ass off anymore? Would buying a new house or a new car be as tempting as it is now? Would having a fat savings account be something to be happy about when you’re forty? Would I be reflecting on how much of my life has been spent serving others and making their lives better instead of just focusing on my own comfort?
Ok, maybe that’s too much to reflect on, haha. As I said, I’ve several years more to go. Ample time to ruminate. But if there are others out there who have hit the big four-oh and would like to share the tidbits of wisdom that they’ve learned during this transition, feel free to rant, err, comment. 🙂
For now, I bid thee adieu with these words of wisdom I scooped from the internet, hehe…and remember, age is a state of the mind! 😛 Have fun.
YOU KNOW YOU’RE GETTING “MARVELOUSLY MATURE” WHEN…..
1. You and your teeth don’t sleep together.
2. Your try to straighten out the wrinkles in your socks and discover you aren’t wearing any.
3. At the breakfast table you hear “snap, crackle, pop” and you’re not eating cereal.
4. Your back goes out but you stay home.
5. When you wake up looking like your driver’s license picture.
6. It takes two tries to get up from the couch.
7. When your idea of a night out is sitting on the patio. (My idea of a night out is sitting on the couch and watching DVDs.)
8. When happy hour is a nap.
9. When you’re on vacation and your energy runs out before your money does.. (Oh mama…this is becoming too familiar.)
10. When you say something to your kids that your mother said to you and you always hated it. (This is soo true!)
11. When all you want for your birthday is to not be reminded of your age. (Thank you!)
12. When you step off a curb and look down one more time to make sure the street is still there.
13. Your idea of weight lifting is standing up.
14. It takes longer to rest than it did to get tired.
15. Your memory is shorter and your complaining lasts longer.
16. Your address book has mostly names that start with Dr.
17. You sit in a rocking chair and can’t get it going.
18. The pharmacist has become your new best friend.
19. Getting “lucky” means you found your car in the parking lot.
20. The twinkle in your eye is merely a reflection from the sun on your bifocals.
21. It takes twice as long – to look half as good. (Ouch. Just plain ouch.)
22. Everything hurts, and what doesn’t hurt – doesn’t work.
23. You look for your glasses for half an hour and they were on your head the whole time.
24. You sink your teeth into a steak – and they stay there.
25. You give up all your bad habits and still don’t feel good.
26. You have more patience, but it is actually that you just don’t care anymore.
27. You finally get your head together and your body starts falling apart.
28. You wonder how you could be over the hill when you don’t even remember being on top of it.