I’m 40. I’m okay with that.

I’m 40. I’m happy with that.

Back in July, I turned the big four-oh. I didn’t talk about it much; glossed over it because I didn’t think I was going to be able to handle it gracefully. For those of you who happened to be around when I turned 30, there was absolutely no need for anger management on my part this time around. I honestly can assure you of that. I hope you can all forgive me for that horrific time, but at my funeral, please regale everyone of that absolute non-shining moment of my history.

This has been a monumental year. It’s been a monumental life. I fully admit that I’m luckier than most people – I’m married to a wonderful guy who supports me in every way and everything that I love. I’ve also been extremely fortunate in that because of him, I’ve been able to live in some exciting places that people only dream about or hope to visit one day – Scotland, Sweden, India…just to name a few places. I never take my luck for granted. I fully appreciate everything.

I’m not saying I live a charmed life. Well, for the most part it is. However, there are personal matters that haven’t gone the way I had hoped and I struggle to deal with it every day. I don’t let it get me down.

As I was chatting with my friend earlier today, I got to thinking…what would I tell the me of 20 years ago?

1. Be careful of what you wish for – it just might come true. When I was younger, I dreamed of traveling and living in different countries. While I love traveling and moving, I’ve lived in so many places in the past 13 years it makes my head spin. We also have the storage unit to prove it…that storage unit is in another state.
2. If you are not thankful or grateful for what you have right now, you will not have anything new come into your life.
3. You really do know who your friends are at 4am.
4. Don’t ever let someone destroy you or your dreams with their jealousy, insecurities and fears.
5. Dream big, go for it, but just in case, keep setting aside money in case it doesn’t go the way you hoped it would.
6. When things go wrong or you feel like you’re the only person on earth that’s been hit with the crap you’re dealing with, just remember that somewhere in the world, someone’s dealing with something that is 7543230457 times worse than what you’re dealing with.
7. Don’t be afraid of stamping your feet and going for what you want. I don’t want to hear you bitch, whine and moan over what could have been. Neither do your friends. It gets tedious.
8. Learning how to spell and knowing basic grammar will get you far in life. I’m not kidding. It’s a judgmental world out there.
9. Just because everyone is doing it, it doesn’t mean it’s right. (I used to roll my eyes when my mother told me that.)
10. Appreciate, value and love everyone, not just those who ‘count’. Everyone is important. Inevitably, people from the past become your future; sometimes they stay in the past. People in the present sometimes become your past…or become your future. Either way, they’ve somehow touched and enriched your life, bringing you things you may have needed at the time. Remember that.

I was born in 1971 and I have to say that the progress my generation has seen is pretty damn cool – I’m at that part where I’m old enough, yet young enough, to appreciate all that technology has given us.

To the women and men in my age group who gave us the technology that keeps us exasperated with other people because we know what they’re doing right now, who remembers the first cell phones, who knew life before Google and who remember Atari, this is for you!