Birthday Thoughts

My 40th Birthday
It is official I am 40 years old. For years I have fondly anticipated this particular birthday. When I was in my 20's and early 30's I figured that by the age of 40 I would pretty much know who I was and where I was going and have a level of maturity that would distinguish me from my more youthful years of trial and mostly error. Well, then I got married and had children in my mid to late 30's. It was not so much the marriage part that made my prior vision of what 40 would be become blurry but it was the having children part that caused a bit of a ruckus. What did having children do? It showed me that I have not become self-actualized in the areas of patience, selfishness, or stress and anger management. All the work that I had done over the years to become self-aware and the skills I had developed to control my emotions, reactions and responses were almost completely annihilated. I had no idea children could do this to a person! Well maybe not all or even most people have this same experience but this is what happened to me, right now, at the age of 40. Despite the shift in perspective of what my life would be like at this age I am content with who I am becoming and where I see my life choices leading me. I am grateful for my marriage and for my two daughters and for the blessings of having a family. So, I celebrated my birthday pretty much this whole month. I made it a big deal and I told everyone I cared to tell that it was my 40th birthday. I had a great time with friends and family celebrating my life thus far and looking forward to the years ahead.