Love em? Hate em?

What has surprised you about being 40+?
What would you like to tell the 30 crowd about being in "this" decade?

at the age of 40.5 ...nothing and no one surprises me anymore ...chances are I've already seen it,heard it,or experienced it

The one stand out factor of this age is that your mortality really stands out when one day you wake up and realize that "The rest of your life" doesn't seem so far away now and you start thinking about things like wills and begin doing more and more personal housekeeping ....just in case.

eh that's my .02 cents

i am 42 and i feel like my life is over ..i never understood the phrase that life starts at 40, as the woman above stated i am closer to the end and not as trusting anymore, i been there, done that and got the video to prove it. i am lonely and alone and have some medical issues that keep me pretty much housebound so i get to meet noone new except online. being 40 made me cry. i cry every year on my birthday. i think its depressing actually

But your life isn't over. Forty-two is still quite young. There are many joys left to be experienced.

Hold out for them. They will come.

Here's my advice:
Stay fit. Eat well. Exercise as much as you can. Take care of your body. Don't get too much sun. Floss often. Get your teeth cleaned as many times a year as you can afford it. Make as many friends as you can. Love easily. Share yourself with others.

Well, I can honestly say that I am more alive and kicking in my 40's than I was in my 20's. Let's see.... the main difference in my life is I feel alive again as I am living my life for me. When I was in my 20's I was married (to a man---I know: balk). I was raising a family. I was too mature for my age. I was too serious, and I was very unhappy. In my 30's, I took the step to leave my marriage, but was still too serious and had two small kids, so I was pretty much a single lesbian mom-type figure, and really didn't have a lot of fun. It wasn't until my late 30's and early 40's that I started going out, meeting new people, got my "myspace page," met others from online, and began experiencing life. Essentially, I began reliving my late 20's to early 30's now. So, other than the fact that my body tells me every day that I am getting older, I actually feel more lively, vibrant, and younger. I enjoy my life, and enjoy what life has to offer me at this juncture in my life! Besides.... I have been told I look late "20's" and when I WAS late 20's, I think I looked 40!

Interesting.

Hey....stay outta the old ladies thread, you youngun...

No, it's interesting, and I'm not interrupting, merely over seeing.

Might be good advice for ya when you reach this ripe old age! Did I say old?

I know forty year olds who act 21, I know 21 year olds who act forty.

I'm 21 by the way, or this would be completely irrelevant.

... and I am the 43 year old who acts 26!

I'll let you know when I begin to act my age.

If I start acting my age, that is when I become old and boring. All the people I used to hang out with who are in their 40's are way too set in their ways, not spontaneous enough, and are quite "crotchity" if you ask me... Guess that's why I get so much of a kick hanging out with folks much younger than I am. Actually, half my friends' parents are MY age!!!

Marry a younger woman that will keep ya young!!

i feel like bars/clubs were more fun in the 1980s/90s. And certainly more crowded. Or were they just more necessary, because the internet wasnt as helpful as it now to find someone?

Here's one for we who were born around 1965 on the east coast...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=opsgNjzB6jA