Let's connect!
Molly B Duncan Health Coach
  • Home
  • About
  • Health Coaching
    • FAQ's
    • Testimonials
  • Classes
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • FAVORITES

On Turning 40 . . .

6/9/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
I recently turned 40.  To celebrate, my husband, Brian, and I went on an Alaska cruise.  It was great.  Many people on the ship were celebrating something wonderful from a 50th wedding anniversary here to an 80th birthday there, and we we were all so happy for one another.

What was not so wonderful was the incessant changing of my age as soon as I mentioned I was turning 40.  "Oh Happy 29th birthday AGAIN!"  "Happy 16th Birthday doll!"  "Oh you young thing, Happy 30th birthday!"  Why is this so common, so accepted, and so specifically directed at women?  I cannot recall one person doing this to Brian when he turned 40 last year.

I am over the moon to be turning 40, but before, after and during the cruise my husband and I seemed to be the only people actually accepting and embracing my new number.  I have been happy for months just at the thought of turning 40.  So much has changed for me and improved for me the older I've become.  I am in much better health at 40 than I was at 22.  I am much more aware of my magical powers and my place in the world now than at any other point in my life.  And as the actress Tilda Swinton said recently at the age of 54, "I live with the reality that my life just gets better."

When we fail to wish the woman who is turning 40 a happy 40th birthday, what we are really saying is that the best is behind her, that she peaked in her youth, and that she should just keep looking backwards.  What a truly terrible thing to do to her.  Dig a little deeper and you find the subtle cultural oppression that tells women that beauty is only available to the young, which frankly is a narrow-minded definition of beauty (and, quite frankly, of youth).  To me, a woman is beautiful when she has found the freedom to be herself, just as she is, and love herself, just as she is.  Kudos to the young woman who is there already.  But for me, it took these past 40 years, many lovely mistakes, a couple of terrible health scares, and more than a few wrong turns to even start contemplating living peacefully in my own skin.   Forty for me equals a freedom I've never experienced before that includes letting go of the need to please people or fit into their vision of/for me, releasing myself from the score-keeping of life, and exploring why I like what I like.  Freedom, it's the word that keeps coming up for me over and over again now. 

40 = FREEDOM

So happy 40th birthday to me!  And here's hoping that women embrace their beauty and magic no matter what age they are.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Hi friends!  I am Molly.  Welcome to my blog where I share my creations and adventures to help you create a life you love.  I am passionate about food, travel, and health! Thanks for stopping by and looking around.  All photos are taken by me unless otherwise attributed.  I develop and write all my recipes with attribution for inspiration and ideas where applicable.  All of my recipes are gluten free.  

    Archives

    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015

    Categories

    All
    Breakfast
    Dessert
    Dinner
    Exercise & Fitness
    Gluten Free
    Healthy Living
    Healthy Snacks
    Healthy Travel
    Quick
    Recipes
    Side Dishes
    Skin Care
    Sugar Addiction
    Vegan
    Web Wellness Wednesdays
    Women's Health

    RSS Feed

    Subscribe to our mailing list

    * indicates required
    Your data is used in line with our privacy policy.
Health Coaching
Classes
Contact
FAQ
Terms and Conditions
​Disclaimer
Privacy Policy
© COPYRIGHT Molly B Duncan.
​ ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos from Brett Jordan, roseannadana