If you are in your mid/upper 30’s or 40 and up, read this!

[lgsdesigner]

I just found a fun article titled “40 Things I Can Do at 40 That I Couldn't Do When I Was 20”.



Link: www.huffingtonpost.com/wendy-fontaine/40-things-i-can-do-at-40-that-i-couldnt-do-when-i-was-20_b_4537538.html



Here is the list! Do you agree?



Top 40 things you can do in your 40’s that you couldn’t do before:



1. Cook a decent meal.

2. Make a killer cup of coffee.

3. Tell the truth.

4. Have a healthy relationship.

5. Look past a person's flaws.

6. Look past my own flaws.

7. Stay home on New Years Eve.

8. Pay my bills.

9. Go out without makeup on.

10. Go to the gynecologist without being embarrassed.

11. Go to a therapist without feeling ashamed.

12. Speak to a group of strangers.

13. Buy the good wine.

14. Handle rejection.

15. Read Didion instead of Cosmo.

16. Be happy for other people, instead of jealous.

17. Ignore the trends (skinny jeans included) and wear what looks good on my body.

18. Ignore the Kardashians, Rihanna and every other celebrity du jour.

19. Ignore people's nasty comments.

20. Ignore my ex.

21. Stand up for myself.

22. Stand up for people I love.

23. Sit at a concert.

24. Take a cab home instead of insisting I'm OK to drive.

25. Wear a hat when it's cold.

26. Stop worrying about whether people like me or think I'm pretty.

27. Be my kid's hero.

28. Show her what independence looks like.

29. Show her what real beauty is.

30. Drive the speed limit.

31. Drop that toxic friend.

32. Avoid the drama.

33. Swear in front of my mom.

34. Swap the tanning lotion for eye cream.

35. Focus on the smart guy instead of the handsome guy.

36. Say "no" to stuff.

37. Skip the gym and go for a walk outside.

38. Stop trying to be perfect.

39. Let go of expectation.

40. Adjust to changes.

And one to grow on: Understand that the best is yet to come.

[Cornflakegirl]

Well since I'm 35 I guess I qualify.

#38-40 were probably the hardest and took the longest!
#1 I'm still working on
#32 I live by

[ajm0711]

Jan 29, 2015 16:42:24 GMT -5 beeorange said:

This list is stupid and insulting. I can do the majority of this list and am 22 years old. Age doesn't mean anything, maturity is what matters.

I was going to say also that I can check of a majority of that list, with exception of the child ones since this is our first.  

[lgsdesigner]

Jan 29, 2015 16:42:24 GMT -5 beeorange said:

This list is stupid and insulting. I can do the majority of this list and am 22 years old. Age doesn't mean anything, maturity is what matters.

beeorange - The writer, Wendy Fontaine, writes a lot of articles in relation to "being 40" or "aging". My guess is these are her personal thoughts, but some of it does ring true for me. There is some stuff on the list I could not do well at a younger age. 
But come on-- I could ALWAYS cook a decent meal! 

[lgsdesigner]

Oh- and I never drive the speed limit. Like ever. I always go about 5-10 over depending on the area/road (unless the weather sucks).

[t1green]

Jan 29, 2015 16:42:24 GMT -5 beeorange said:

This list is stupid and insulting. I can do the majority of this list and am 22 years old. Age doesn't mean anything, maturity is what matters.

+1 and I'm 28.

[shmee]

Jan 29, 2015 17:02:50 GMT -5 t1green said:

Jan 29, 2015 16:42:24 GMT -5 beeorange said:

This list is stupid and insulting. I can do the majority of this list and am 22 years old. Age doesn't mean anything, maturity is what matters.

+1 and I'm 28.

I'm 28 +1 so 29.

Wait, I did that wrong.

[honeylemon]

I'm disturbed that this person couldn't do any of these things until she was 40.

But I'm just a lowly 30 year old, so what do I know?

[pintobean]

That list is soooo true, for me at least. I thought I could do anything at 20 and obviously knew everything. I look back and laugh at my 20yr old self. Although I think I was figuring things out by 25. I grew up a lot from 20-25.

The only thing I really miss about my 20's are the ability to recover from a hangover quickly, lose 5lbs by skipping 1 meal, and the lack of wrinkles and grey hair.

Eta: I'm 40 now.

[mayflowers]

I'm 30 and can do all of these things (again, except the kid ones since I don't have any yet).

[pintobean]

Jan 29, 2015 17:13:47 GMT -5 honeylemon said:

I'm disturbed that this person couldn't do any of these things until she was 40.

But I'm just a lowly 30 year old, so what do I know?

To me it sounded like she's comparing the difference in herself from when she was 20 and when she was 40. Not really saying she couldn't do any of that until she was 40.

[honeylemon]

Jan 29, 2015 17:29:04 GMT -5 pintobean said:

Jan 29, 2015 17:13:47 GMT -5 honeylemon said:

I'm disturbed that this person couldn't do any of these things until she was 40.

But I'm just a lowly 30 year old, so what do I know?

To me it sounded like she's comparing the difference in herself from when she was 20 and when she was 40. Not really saying she couldn't do any of that until she was 40.

Oh I get it now. I just read the list, not the article.

[smilz4782]

Jan 29, 2015 16:42:24 GMT -5 beeorange said:

This list is stupid and insulting. I can do the majority of this list and am 22 years old. Age doesn't mean anything, maturity is what matters.

Yeah I've been that way 99% of my adult life.
I'm only 32, but my 25 year old self was the same.

[orangepickle]

Agree with beeorange and t1green - I'm 28 and I've done most of the things on this list for at least a decade or more. The author's line about how she was carefree and fighting over who ate whose spaghetti (seriously?) at 20 does not resonate with me at all.

Many of the things she said she was doing at 20 were things I could maybe relate to in my early teens, but I can't even imagine waiting until I was 40 to do everything on this list.

[snapdragon]

If whoever wrote that list couldn't do any of those things at 20, she was a really immature 20-year-old.

[jerseyakl]

Jan 29, 2015 17:20:50 GMT -5 pintobean said:

That list is soooo true, for me at least. I thought I could do anything at 20 and obviously knew everything. I look back and laugh at my 20yr old self. Although I think I was figuring things out by 25. I grew up a lot from 20-25.

The only thing I really miss about my 20's are the ability to recover from a hangover quickly, lose 5lbs by skipping 1 meal, and the lack of wrinkles and grey hair.

Eta: I'm 40 now.

This resonated with me. I am 33 but the article made me realize how different I am than I was at 20. And I agree, I think the author just meant she can do things at 40 that she could not do at 20 (not that she just now can do them). I wouldn't call it the most profound article ever, but it is good food for thought.

Not all of these apply to me as some are still a challenge and others were on my list at 20 (although far fewer than I would have thought at the time).

I think I started swearing in front of my mom very recently and a good cup of coffee? I knew at 20 but thanks to the Keurig, I no longer have a clue. Take that! I am regressing.

[purpleroses]

I'm definitely a different person at 36 than I was at 20. But, I think I've always been pretty mature and don't know that the big changes in my life have anything to do with what's on this list. The main ones I could relate to were avoiding toxic friends and drama. I was kind of a magnet for ending up in stressful friendships that were somewhat one-sided (with me putting in all of the effort) until I was in my mid- to late- 20s and figured out how to avoid ending up in those sorts of relationships in the first place. Definitely knew how to put on a hat and avoid driving drunk (as well as some of the others) even in high school.

[entropicepona]

I could do all those things at 20, too. But now that I'm knocking on the door of 40 I can look back and realize that while I could DO them at 20, I can do them with much more ease and greater aplomb now.

But, when I was 20 I couldn't grumble about my wrinkles. I can certainly do that now!