Next week I will be turning forty. What I find interesting is how much emphasis other people are placing on that fact. I was joking around in the break room today that I would be turning 21. Someone (younger than I) said, "You're turning forty." That isn't the first time they said that when I joked about my age. Then someone else who is older than I am told me that when I turned forty to go to Disneyland and ride the rides that I used to enjoy, because I would find out after I turn forty that I will enjoy things more. I said, "Good Lord! I'm still the same person. I'm just a year older."
Yes, I'll be forty in a little over a week. So what? I'm not expecting to wake up that morning and look in the mirror and see someone remarkably older than the person I saw the day before. I'm not going to stop doing things that I like to do just because I'm forty. I'm still going to like to listen to my iPod. I'm still going to like taking long walks or going running or cycling. I'm still going to chase my dog around in the back yard like I did when I was a kid. The only difference will be I will have officially passed the forty year mark. I plan to continue to enjoy my life as I always have. Right now I still see age as a number. Maybe that will change with time, but not now.
To this point all of the things that I thought happened as people approached forty, haven't happened. That is with the exception of graying hair.
