I’m in my forties now. I thought, “What would I tell twenty-year-old me?” So, for all the twenty-somethings and even thirty-somethings, this is for you! Sharing a little life wisdom from life lived, from my mistakes and victories.
Enjoy that metabolism of an Olympic athlete. You will miss it when you are 40! Not that you will look bad, it just takes more time and less calories! More strength training and Pilates. Don’t make fun of the older people doing yoga and Pilates! Your body will get stiff, and stretching will feel great! Sounds crazy, I know!
By forty, you will not care what people think. We will stare you down, us forty-somethings! At this time, we have survived life as it has thrown at us. Not caring if Brad likes us or if Tiffany wants to be our friend. So, start early, start caring less about what people think about you now. Not everyone has to like you; that is okay! You would rather make good, long-lasting friends than people who backstab you in five years anyway. Friends will come and go during this time. Very few will survive the next ten years. That is fine, you learned something from them.
Some people are extremely lucky, have their lives mapped out, and it works perfectly. For the rest of us, we have no idea what we are doing. Take crummy jobs to survive. Change our majors three times, trying to figure out who am I? Well, you are a strong, beautiful, twenty-something, and the world is your oyster. Mistakes are easier to erase, fixable, if you will. Doors open for you that you didn’t ask to open. My advice: knock on the door and ask!
Your forties aren’t that bad! I don’t feel like an old fogey yet. You have learned to start saying no. To stop people pleasing. You are finally putting yourself first, which is freeing. You will turn off your phone and avoid people. Take a walk in the park. You usually have more money, so you do things you couldn’t in your twenties. Splurging a little on yourself feels necessary!
Relationships, do not be afraid to get rid of someone. If they are not kind, if they yell, if they don’t pay for anything. You are not obligated to stay, even if you have been with them for years. How they treat you, it never gets any better. Especially if you have to explain it to them. They know they hurt you.
Self-love, I cannot express this enough. This will keep you out of some of the worst situations. When you fully love yourself, you will not take any less from someone. You will not accept anyone who destroys your peace. Or halfway loves you. Absolutely not, so love yourself, no matter what flaws you see. Everyone has them. In your forties, you are more willing to discuss yourself as the dumpster fire you occasionally feel like.
This was written by our contributing writer, Christy Granger.
Image Source: Anastasia Sklyar, Unsplash
Leave a Reply