Is your life half full or half empty at forty? Too many people think it’s half empty after they have one of those silly birthday parties with black balloons and over-the-hill cards.
The implied message is that we’ve reached the pinnacle of our life, and it’s downhill from here on.
Do you remember when you were a kid, and you were asked your age? You always said something like, “I’m five and a half.” You always added the half because you looked forward to getting older. Getting older held out the promise of adventure, freedom, and fun.
But, somewhere along the way, we dropped the half. We became ashamed of our age and tried to hide it. The shame showed up at different ages for different people, but for almost everyone, it shows up around forty.
If we live to be at least 80, we have more than half of our adult life left at forty if our adult life started at 18.
Why not look forward to the second half of our life the same way we looked forward to the first half of our life.
The second half of life is time to grow whole instead of old. That means getting off the ego-driven treadmill trying to keep up with or get ahead of everyone else and getting acquainted with yourself.
Why not add the half every time we have a chance to state our age? I’m 80 now, and I love to tell people I’m 80 and a half.
Regardless of how old you are, you’ve reached an age that many people in the world never get to experience. Love your age. Own your age. Be proud of your age.
