The Mid-life NON-Crisis

Some of life's best lessons come when you least expect it.  That's the case with the lesson that inspired me this week.  I have so many wonderful friends, some close, some that I just see every now and then.  They touch me in ways they can't even imagine.  I know in my heart that God sends them to me just when I need them.  That's the case with the lesson that inspired me this week.

I turn 40 in April.  For many people, the mere thought of hitting 40--a point at which most consider themselves to be "middle aged"--is enough to send them into crisis mode.  Some people won't even divulge their real age after they hit 30.  I must admit that 30 was tough for me. I never imagined myself at 30 and it was a bit difficult to accept.  For a while, I told people that I was turning 25 for the fifth, sixth, seventh time and so on each year when my birthday rolled around.  Forty, however, is a different story entirely.

I know why people dread 40.  Things start to fall apart in your thirties.  You start forgetting things.  You walk into rooms and can't remember why the heck you went in there.  You can't remember everything on your grocery or to-do lists unless you write it down.  Body parts that never gave you a lick of trouble before suddenly begin to trouble you for what seems like no reason at all.  The thought of staying up past 10...on a school night (!)...becomes incredibly crazy.  Some foods that you love start to betray you....turning on you in ways you thought could only happen to your parents and grandparents.

All of these things have been visited upon me in various ways in the last ten years.  And yet, I still wouldn't want to be 25 again.  This might seem crazy but when I look at where I was 15 years ago, I know I wouldn't want to go back.  This reasons why are many:

• When I was 25, I was morbidly obese. 
• I was going to college, working on a second bachelors degree because I couldn't teach in Tennessee without it. 
• My job at the time was at as an assistant manager at a Hallmark store in Tennessee. 
• I still lived at home.
• I was essentially broke most of the time, except on payday.

Today my life is vastly different.  I'm not "skinny," but I'm at a much healthier place.  I'm stronger, healthier, and more powerful than I have ever been in my life. I can do push-ups on my toes...a feat I would never have even imagined at 25.  I ran a 5K two years ago...I couldn't have run 5 meters 15 years ago.  I work out 3 or 4 days a week, for at least an hour.  The idea of working out never crossed my mind in my 20s.  I have my masters degree now (OK, I never finished the second bachelors degree, I'm still one class shy, but who cares now???).  I've been teaching--a job I love 95% of the time--for twelve and half years now.  I feel confident and comfortable in my place at work; I work with people who are amazing educators.  They drive me to a higher place professionally every day.  I will never get rich teaching, but I my financial picture is far better than it was back when I was 25.  All of these are reasons why I embrace 40 rather than fear it.  For me, it is the beginning of the next amazing chapter in my life!

The bottom line is a wondeful quote posted on Facebook by one of those friends I see every now and then:

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have NOT;  remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. 

Thanks, Lisa and Leigh Ann.