About Being 41

Middle-aged guy in a bar hitting on a lady.  Is this a common scene?
(Picture source:  http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/sex-relationships/)

Middle-aged guy having fun at a bar.  40-ish guys are more fun, don;t you think?
(Picture source:  http://itsalwayssunnyindetroit.com/2010/07/the-10-worst-guys-youll-see-at-the-bar/.html) 

40-ish guy.  No comment.  LOL!
(Picture source:  http://www.sloshspot.com/blog/01-25-2009/The-11-Drunk-People-You-Dont-Want-to-Meet-at-the-Bar-108)

41 is the new 40.  It's been quite a while since my last post.  I intended to write at least one post per week.  But I was very busy this December.  Well, who isn't?   I wasn't just busy, one important thing has happened to me since that last post.  I celebrated my birthday!  (Hep-Hep-Hurray!  I won't tell you exactly when.  LOL!)  I turned 41.  Do you know the saying, "life begins at 40"?  Well, it's wrong!  Life actually begins at 41!  Let me tell you why.

Youth is defined as that period of life between childhood and adult age.  If my teacher in High School taught me well, (I still remember what she said in our Social Studies course) the legal definition of the word "youth" is that period in life from childhood to 40 years old.  Taking into account that assumption hence, when you reach the age of 41, you now become an adult.  As a "real" adult, you get to realize the time wasted in youth.  So, now at 41, you recapture your youth.  It's party time!  (Just kidding!)  Now you know why a lot of 40-ish guys are hitting clubs and bars.  (Again, just kidding.)

Then there's mid-life crisis.  You begin to evaluate your life.  You wonder if what you have been doing for the last decade is really what you want to do for the rest of your life.  At 40, you are in denial stage.  But the minute you turn 41, reality kicked in.  You now worry about your health... your happiness... and of course you scrutinize your financial status.  Damn!  41 sure made me worry on things I never really gave much thought about before.

I confess.  I am a workaholic.  During my 20's and 30's, working overnights was a piece of cake.  Working for three days in a row without getting a decent 6-hour sleep let alone a change in underwear was not seldom.  Working 7 days a week, wasn't really a big deal.  Stress left and right, over and above, seemed to be nothing to be concerned about.  Now, health is a big deal and stress is definitely NOT nothing!  Truly, you reap what you sow.  I now have hypertension, poor sleeping and eating habits, and worse an erratically behaving thyroid gland.  Thank you, 20's and 30's.  (Yes, I am sarcastically grateful.  LOL!)

I really thought that when I reach my forties, I would have peace of mind and enjoy myself until I was a hundred.  It seemed to me that I have experienced everything there is to experience in my work, love, and family life.  I was dead WRONG... big time!  Life is a learning process.  You do not stop on learning things.  You continuously get to experience life!  You sometimes fall on some humps along the way.  But you get up.  You sometimes get cornered.  But you eventually find your way.  At 41, all of these thoughts came rushing in because life now has been lived halfway through, and you wonder where you have been all these time… you wonder what you have been doing all these years.  Time suddenly became a live pulsating dimension... it is so imminent that you still wonder if you get to live it happily and contentedly...

At 41, you blabber on a subject matter that's probably a non-issue a year ago.  Alright!  I'll stop annoying you.  I'm actually annoyed myself.  Haissst!  Really, at 41 is where you should decide to be happy that you have lived 4 decades with an assortment of memories of victories, love, burning passion, lustful desires, hope, ambition, revolution, innovation, discoveries, warmth, and true friendship.  Now, these things bring a big smile to my face.  41 isn't really bad!

Well, here's to 41 (times 2, he-he-he) more long years of happiness and prosperity!  Cheers!