The other side of the hill looms
May 7th, 2012
See that face? I’m going to be 40 in 4 months. I’m not quite sure how that happened. I distinctly remember my mother turning 40 – I can’t quite wrap my brain around it being my turn. I’ve been thinking about working myself up into quite a funk about it but then remembered my 30th birthday. I was all prepared to be dramatic and depressed about turning 30. But it turned out my 30th birthday was the first anniversary of 9/11. How could I be depressed at turning 30 when so many didn’t get that opportunity because of those acts of terrorism? (Stupid terrorists. They ruin everything.) So instead, I went to work as usual. It was the day of the week that I co-facilitated a partial hospitalization group for middle school kids with several behavioral issues. In an attempt to help them build empathy, we all planted a bush to commemorate the day. Then they all “surprised” me with a cake and called me grandma for the rest of the day. Later, my girlfriend took me to our favorite bar and made me drink out of a punch bowl with a straw. All in all – not a bad day.
As 40 looms, I started thinking about how I would like to celebrate this milestone. I’ve told my husband he should take me to Vegas or whisk me away to a beach somewhere – either venue would allow me to drink enough to pretend I’m still 22 like I am in my head. Odds are, neither of those will happen. We have other budgetary priorities this year. I’ve decided that much like my 30th, my 40th birthday might be easier to accept if I focus on something other than myself. In the next 4 months, I will commit 40 random acts of kindness. I will do my best to document them and share them here.
May 7th, 2012 at 10:44 am
I’m turning 30 in a few weeks. This is freaking me out for more than superficial reasons but they are too long/personal to type. Everyone wants me to have a party. I just want to go to the beach with my husband (weather permitting) & to a seafood restaurant. I look so forward to reading about your 40 random acts. π
May 7th, 2012 at 11:47 am
What an awesome idea! I do a lot of volunteering and things with my kids and it really is a great feeling.
May 7th, 2012 at 1:14 pm
I love this idea. I’m so looking forward to reading about your adventures!! Thanks!
May 7th, 2012 at 1:35 pm
I had so much fun when we were doing our random acts of kindness. Some turned out to be a ton of work and others easy-peasy.
I turn 41 in July. I just found a book (that I bought last June) called 40 things to do when you are 40. Guess I better get cracking… I’ll share any that are fun. π
May 7th, 2012 at 2:03 pm
I love that you’re exactly 2 weeks older than me. π And -I like your idea – a lot. That sure is a lot of random niceness…I’m kind of thinking that will be enough for the both of us, right? ha.
May 7th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Great idea! Can’t wait to hear what you do. My Mother used to say, “Having another birthday sure beats the alternative! Now get out there and enjoy it.” I’ll try to remember that when I hit 50 in 5 months.
May 8th, 2012 at 7:38 am
Its 39 for me this year but I feel your pain. I LOVE your idea of 40 random acts of kindness. I am so looking forward to hearing about them. Good Luck.
May 8th, 2012 at 1:15 pm
ohhh…I like the random act of kindness thing! My birthday is 1 week later on the 18th but I will be 42 (I spent my big 4-0 at the OU vs OSU football game!)…maybe I will join in on this adventure! 40’s have been fun for me so far…and as my Mom always says, “I don’t care how old I am as long as someone brings me a present!” π
May 9th, 2012 at 3:43 pm
I might steal the 40 random acts of kindness thing, as my milestone is 6 months away. ya look great
May 10th, 2012 at 11:55 am
Love your random acts of kindness idea – can’t wait to hear the results! And PS – you don’t look a day over 25 in that pic…fabulous!
September 10th, 2012 at 7:39 pm
[…] back in May, I said I was going to do 40 random acts of kindness before my 40th birthday? I said I would document them and share. I started to do that (the […]
May 7th, 2014 at 2:33 am
Amazing blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from somewhere?
A design like yours with a few simple adjustements would really make my blog jump out.
Please let me know where you got your theme. Cheers
Here is my web site … muscle cells
May 7th, 2014 at 5:54 am
Everything is very open with a really clear explanation of the issues.
It was definitely informative. Your website is extremely helpful.
Thank you for sharing!
May 7th, 2014 at 10:28 am
Right here is the right site for anyone who would like to find
out about this topic. You know so much its almost tough to argue with you (not that I actually
would want to HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin
on a subject which has been discussed for many years.
Great stuff, just wonderful!
May 7th, 2014 at 11:08 am
Hi there, I discovered your site by means of Google whilst searching for a related topic, your website got here up,
it appears to be like good. I have bookmarked it in
my google bookmarks.
Hello there, simply changed into aware of your blog via Google,
and found that it is truly informative. I am going to watch out for brussels.
I’ll appreciate if you happen to continue this in future.
Numerous other folks will be benefited from your writing.
Cheers!
May 7th, 2014 at 2:43 pm
The other day, while I was at work, my sister stole my iphone and tested to see if it can survive a 40 foot drop, just so
she can be a youtube sensation. My iPad is now broken and she has 83 views.
I know this is entirely off topic but I had to share it with someone!
May 7th, 2014 at 5:50 pm
Hello! I could have sworn I’ve been to your blog before but after
browsing through many of the posts I realized it’s new to me.
Regardless, I’m definitely happy I came across it and I’ll be bookmarking it and checking back often!
May 7th, 2014 at 6:17 pm
If some one wants expert view regarding blogging then i suggest him/her to visit this blog,
Keep up the nice work.
May 7th, 2014 at 9:28 pm
Hey I know this is off topic but I was wondering if you knew of any widgets I could add to my blog that automatically tweet my
newest twitter updates. I’ve been looking for a plug-in like this for quite some time and
was hoping maybe you would have some experience with something like this.
Please let me know if you run into anything. I truly enjoy
reading your blog and I look forward to your new updates.
May 7th, 2014 at 9:41 pm
Good day! Do you know if they make any plugins to help with SEO?
I’m trying to get my blog to rank for some targeted keywords but I’m not seeing very good results.
If you know of any please share. Cheers!
May 8th, 2014 at 12:00 am
great put up, very informative. I ponder why the opposite specialists of this sector don’t understand this.
You must proceed your writing. I’m sure, you’ve a great readers’ base already!
May 8th, 2014 at 3:00 am
After I originally commented I appear to have
clicked the -Notify me when new comments are added- checkbox
and now every time a comment is added I get 4 emails with the same comment.
There has to be a way you are able to remove me from that service?
Thanks!
May 8th, 2014 at 5:16 am
I am curious to find out what blog platform you’re using?
I’m experiencing some minor security problems with my latest website and I would like
to find something more secure. Do you have any suggestions?
May 8th, 2014 at 5:28 am
Simply wish to say your article is as surprising. The clarity in your post is
simply nice and i could assume you are an expert
on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your feed to keep updated with forthcoming post.
Thanks a million and please continue the gratifying work.