Ode to My Thirties: Turning Forty is Hard to do

I've never been phased much by my birthdays but turning forty is taking me for a loop. I'm not sure why this particular milestone is giving me grief, but I'm just not happy about it. I know they say 40 is the new 30, but I like the old 30--when I was actually in my thirties thank you very much. No matter what clever saying my friends came up with --"age is just a number. " "You are only as old as you feel." Blah blah blah--I did not want to hear it. Forty sounded old and old is one thing I'm not.

Turning 40 also brings an acute awareness that it's mostly downhill from here. Sure you can have the state of mind of a teenager, but your body knows the real deal. Forty means aches and pains. Forty means hearing snap, crackle, pop every morning and you are not even eating Rice Krispies. My girlfriend turned 40 recently and her doctor said she's already peri-menopausal. What????

No thank you.

Eventually, after much hand-wringing, I decided it was no use resisting the inevitable. I couldn't stop 40 so it's best that I embrace it with some fabulousness and show 40 who is boss.

And so this is my ode to my thirties, on our last days together. You were a good decade and I will miss you.  Things I did in my thirties: lived abroad, married in Scotland, had my beautiful son, experienced love, heartbreak and heartache, divorced in New York, bought 2 houses, published 4 books, quit 6 figure job, followed my dream to start my own business,  fell down, got back up, fell down, got back up again, loved hard, lost it and hoping to find love again...

OK 40's you've got big shoes to fill....(deep breath) Let's do this!!!