Turning 4 Decades Old

Yikes.



My mom is 20 years older than me, she was born in September and I was born in December. When she turned 30, I remember I gave her a birthday card on which I wrote, "Happy Birthday to someone 3 decades old to someone nearly 1 decade old". (or something very, very similar).



In less than 4 months, I will turn 40. Next month my mom will be 60. Somehow that is kind of a scary thought. While we are young compared to the wonderful elderly w/whom I work in my daily job, it is not easy to think about having been on this planet for 4 decades. Actually technically, I guess I will starting my 5th decade of life.



Again, no one really reads this blog anyway, but for me, it is sometimes hard as significant birthdays occur. For when I turned 30 I had hoped I would have been married and had a family by that time. So to some extent, this feeling is a little magnified at this age. Anyway, onward I need to go. I try to keep busy and hope to do what I can to help others. Recently I read something, I think by Elder Maxwell, that said, "those who don't have trials should be at the feet of those who do." I love the wisdom in that statement.



So: I need to improve my sense of gratitude for all the wonderful blessings I've been given. I try to work on being happy for others. For the most part, I do ok at avoiding feelings of depression. (when I turned 30 I received a priesthood blessing so as to hopefully avoid feelings of depression). Back when I was around 20 my hope was that whether I stayed single or was lucky enough to get married, my life would be of no less service and that I would not waste time in life in depression.



While at times I do get sad about this situation and hope it was different, I have been able to "press forward" to a good degree.



In doing this, hopefully I will be ok.



To celebrate, I had thought about doing something such as of "In the New". She celebrated her 30th birthday by doing something fun- and giving herself new experiences- each day in the year prior to her 30th birthday. She blogged about these experiences in an amazing blog.



I do want to do some fun things. I bought a beautiful piece of raspberry/fuschia colored luggage. I've never really had a suitcase, except for my parents' luggage that I borrowed in college and on my mission. Other than that, the rare times I've gone anywhere, I've pretty much relied on my faithful duffle bag. So I am excited to have this luggage- now I just need to determine some low cost fun places to go visit!



More importantly though, I continue to try to keep strong.