Almost 40

I remember back when I was a teenager, the age of 40 seemed SO far in the future that it didn’t even register a blip on my radar.  Well here I am at 39 with exactly 80 days until the day I turn 40.  And not surprising it’s registering more than a blip now.

I can honestly say I don’t feel 39 let alone 40.  But over the years the fine lines have crept up and creases in my forehead remind me everyday how I am not young anymore.   When I was 19, I use to slap on pure baby oil while lying on the beach and begged the sun to make me nice and crispy.  And my friends and I used to laugh it off and say, “Oh by the time we are 40 there will be an invention to reverse sun damage.”  How naïve were we?  Not only is there no real cure without some sort of plastic surgery even worse we never considered getting skin cancer.  But back then we sat on the beach thinking nothing of it.  I now have an ugly sunspot gracing my cheek to prove how wrong our thinking was. 

You know its bad when you find yourself googling Botox.  And would I seriously consider pumping Clostridium botulinum into my forehead to look like a perpetual deer in a headlight?  Well never say never but I ain’t there yet.  First off, I loathe needles so I’d have to really hate the lines in my forehead to go that route.  And second, bangs seem to do the trick too.  I will admit I have used the supposed “Hollywood Secret” called Frownies.  Which are little pieces of paper that you stick on your forehead or other undesirable lines on the face.  The kicker is, they do work.  After you sleep all night with them stuck to your forehead/face, you peel them off and there miraculously are minimal to no lines.  However, about 5 minutes later, the lines are back.  So basically if I want to put them on and go out, my time is VERY limited on being line free.  But seriously, the maker of Frownies states that desired results don’t show up until about 30 days after you start using them.  And you must use them every single night or day for at least 3 hours.  So being that I have an entire box, I will keep pasting them to my skin in hopes that one day I too will be line free for at least longer than 5 minutes.    

I do try to stay in shape and be healthy, with workouts every single day, unless I absolutely cannot fit one in.  I don’t exactly eat that great but thanks to good genes and being hyperactive my weight is at a respectable number.  I also credit playing sports growing up and still playing sports with my son.  Whether it shooting hoops, having a catch or tennis, anything to keep me moving, which hopefully will keep me young even if my actual age does not.

So as 40 looms, I wonder how I will be when my birthday arrives. To be officially out of my 30’s and considered “middle aged.”  Even typing those dreaded words makes me cringe. 

But in the words of my self-proclaimed 39 year old grandmother (real age 88) “you are as old as you feel.”  Today I feel 20, so for the moment all is good.