(*All blog post are from Lead character, Samantha Collins, in award winning comedy, Dating In The Middle Ages…)

Forties are the new twenties is such old boloney…

Listen, I’m all for people feeling, acting, looking younger, but the truth is (at least for me) once you’re in your forties things change. Period.

My body does not move or respond (physically) like it did twenty years earlier.  Workouts are shorter and my body takes longer to recover no matter what supplements I take or protein shakes I drink.  And, although I still want to do every exercise there is, there are simply those exercises I cannot perform anymore without hurting myself.  (Deadlifts) 🙁

Everything I eat shows up somewhere on my body.

I still cannot give up bread.

I can’t see without reading glasses.

Eight hours sleep is a thing of the past.

Mood shifts, and (uncontrollable) mental chatter are common place even though I meditate. (I’m up to a minute, working hard to get to five.) I will say I have no night sweats or heat flashes – thank the Gods for natural hormones.

Regrets do have a way of creeping in, but I’m learning to let go of them and accept that everything happens for a reason.  (Some days I believe this more than others)

A sense of urgency rules my life to do things I’ve never done before while I’m still healthy enough to do them. (that sojourn to France beckons, as does Tango-ing at ninety)  Now whether I actually do them – to be continued.

I try not to weigh myself often, but I do weigh in on who I want to spend time with carefully. (and that includes family)

Friends are important.  Period!

 

Chocolate and red wine are imperative for a happy state of mind.

People that we love, along with puppies and kitties that we raise, grow old and die and it’s okay to weep (forever) about that.

Thinking back, thirty was hard for me.  I wandered aimlessly trying to fit in with people I didn’t care about (and who didn’t care about me), trying to succeed at a career that didn’t exist yet, trying to support myself (working three jobs) and looking for the meaning of life. (well some things never change) 🙂

I do like my forties for the time I have on my hands to work on myself and better myself in all areas. I still don’t volunteer as much as I’d like, but at least I don’t have to work three jobs anymore – I’ve succeeded as an author, and I have what I need to live comfortably and do the things I feel are necessary.

And I’m surrounded by family – and still talking to my mother and daughter. (Although some days its iffy, LOL)

I will say I’ve earned every year and wouldn’t trade in any experience.  (Well maybe a blind date or two, and that time I dragged fifty feet of toilet paper across the dance floor, on the bottom of my stiletto, at my cousin’s wedding)

Today life is still full of endless possibilities.  I try not to forget that while I’m popping Advil and searching for my reading glasses…

Sending love,

Samantha