Bigger Picture Moment: 41

They say “age is just a number.” I believe this statement to be true. However, there are moments like when my knees creak as I walk up the stairs, or when I fall asleep with mouth agape while watching TV. When my laugh lines seem more pronounced and the oldies station is playing songs from the 80’s.

 

 

Those are the moments I feel old.

 

Ancient.

 

Obsolete.

 

I turned 41 today. I’m on the other side of the hill.

 

Each birthday I take moment, breathe deeply and assess my place in the universe. I remember thinking at the tender age of 18 that 40 seemed crazy old. According to my 18 year-old self I’d be retired by now with grandkids and a beach house. If only … although not the grandkids those can wait a bit.

 

Forty – one might not be old, but I have seen so many changes in the world – the invention of the Internet, the devastation of 911, TMZ used as a credible news outlet, gay marriage and the legalization of pot.

 

As the world around me grows and expands, so do I.

 

I grow older, and hopefully wiser.

 

Age really is just a number, the measure of a person’s life isn’t just in how many years they have lived and breathed on this earth.

 

 

It’s measured in …

 

Forty-one years of laughter, and the chiseled lines to prove that yes life can be downright hilarious. So hilarious you might even pee your pants, which is what happens when you’re old.

 

Creaky knees, because they have led me across many a finish line.

 

The times I’ve fallen asleep in my chair each night because it means I’ve lived a full life that day.

 

Those days when a radio station plays my favorite song from 80’s because who doesn’t love a dance party in the kitchen.

 

All week my husband has asked what I wanted for my birthday. I replied with a smile and shoulder shrug, because after 41 years I have everything I need right here.