The big 40!

Mike's birthday was just a couple of days ago and it was the big 40. Mike didn't want a fuss made and he didn't want presents, so the best I could come up with was the cake. I felt like I had let him down, by it not being a special birthday but Mike didn't seem to care. And then it hit him a day later. He was 40. The psychological button tripped and suddenly he felt old. I remember talking to my Mum as a teenager and her complaining about 40 and how old she felt and I used to tell her off. I would tell her that she wasn't really old and that she was only as old as she felt. I also promised myself that I wouldn't constantly be worrying about age as I got older. Now here I am heading towards 38 and whilst I'm not sure that I'm old, I'm certainly not young anymore. In my family you're lucky if you make it to 60 and I suddenly realized that perhaps that was what bothered my Mum. Our track record is not good. Mike all of a sudden felt old. Not because of something significant that happened but he just woke up and felt old. I think perhaps that in todays society these ages are hyped up and we're told that you are indeed old if you are ...... Fill in the blanks. By certain ages you are expected to have accomplished different things in your life. Married and started a family by 30, house by 40 etc etc. I finally told Mike that we had to go off of our expectations and not societies. We have been a part of the military for a very long time now and that has given us different expectations to fulfill. Our time to accomplish things like our own house is rapidly coming and we are ready for it. As for a persons age, it is just a number and we should not feel depressed by any certain number. We can never go back and so we should willingly look to the future and the positives, instead of the past and the negatives. Age is just a number!