Do you consider 40 old?

[asscherisme]

Just curious.

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Now that I'm closing in on it, absolutely NOT! I'm still a frisky 36-year-old, and find my 40+ friends are the same way. Possibly it's all just a mind set.

Mostly I find myself around women who live vivacious lives regardless of age.

ETA - while at the Party Store, my son found the "over- the-hill" balloons the coolest of them all and kept asking that we attach a few to his pirate-themed 7 YO party boquette.

 

[asscherisme]

Good answer

I just turned 40 and I''m doing my best to not be freaked out by it. But I''m surprised what a hard time I''m having with it.

However, the reaction I''ve gotten is interesting. Women over 40 have told me congratulations. I have heard that like 8 times. I don''t know what to think of that.

I''m have however had a number of people be shocked I''m 40 and tell me that I look much younger. Like 40 is ancient or something.

I don''t feel old!

 

[Haven]

Nope. My handsome DH will be 40 in April, so it can't possibly be old!

I like to repeat what a colleague told me om his 50th birthday after I asked how it felt:
"It was always a goal of mine to make it this far, so I'm pretty happy."

Great attitude, huh? Turning 40 sure is better than the alternative.

 

[Richard Sherwood]

The 40''s decade felt good. I didn''t really feel "old".

Now that I''m in the 50''s decade though I''m feeling it a bit.

 

[VRBeauty]

I used to.

 

[Dancing Fire]

over the hill !!

 

[Beacon]

I loved turning 40 because it was such a relief. It was something that I worried mildly about in my 20s and 30s but then when I got there it was nothing at all. People might tell you 40 is old, but it''s like John Mayer says in his song, "it''s just a lie you''ve got to rise above." I got carded buying the wine for my 40th party, so that took a bunch of the sting off it!

Now I don''t even think 60 is old. I think old is over 80.

 

[brightlight]

No. As 40 approaches, it seems younger and younger every year.

 

[rainwood]

It depends.

If you want to be a professional football player, yes. If you want to be Miss America, yes. If you want to wear a really short skirt and a tank top, yes (with some limited exceptions).

If you want to be president, no. If you want to be a Supreme Court justice, no. If you want to wear a 10 ct. honking big diamond, no.

 

[loriken214]

HECK NO!!!!

Lori

 

[Lorelei]

No way!

 

[beau13]

HELL NO!!
Especially when people tell ya, you don't look a day over 30!

Life begins at 40..so much wiser, more experienced, fulfilled, knowledgeable, and together!
40 truly is the new 30!!

 

[AprilBaby]

Hahaha, NO. I was 50 in April.

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

No.

It is funny, as I get older I realize that you do''t actually *feel* any different inside as you age. Maybe a little more mature, grounded etc. But basically you are the same person when you are older as you were when you are younger. Probably that is why its so hard to age -- you look in the mirror and think "Wh othe heck is that?" LOL!

 

[dreamer_dachsie]

Date: 7/18/2009 2:27:06 AM
Author: rainwood
It depends.

If you want to be a professional football player, yes. If you want to be Miss America, yes. If you want to wear a really short skirt and a tank top, yes (with some limited exceptions).

If you want to be president, no. If you want to be a Supreme Court justice, no. If you want to wear a 10 ct. honking big diamond, no.

LOL! Too true!

I am a professor and although being with all the students makes me feel old and decrepit alreadt (I am 31), I am so young for beign a prof, where the mean age is probably 45!

And I look forward to wearing a very large diamond when I am 40 too

 

[Ara Ann]

I turned 41 last November... But I loved turning 40! My hubby threw me a big, Princess themed party, in lieu of going with the typical ''black'' 40th stuff, (which he felt would be a mean thing to do)...it was perfect and lots of fun. I really enjoyed my 39th year, leading up to 40th...I actually looked forward to it and felt better than ever, turning 30 was a lot more emotional for me. Also, DH and I married young and had our kids young, so we have LOTS of freedom now that our sons are older, which is very freeing, they are now 19 and 14! It also helps to look younger too...DH just turned 46 and the younger people he works with thought he was in his 30''s.

I will say this last year has been really hard on me personally, but it''s not really related to age, but I feel I have aged a lot...I developed Bell''s Palsy (temporary nerve damage and facial paralysis, caused by a virus) on Christmas day and am still not recovered 100%...so the last 7 months have not been very enjoyable, but that can happen to anyone at any age! Both George Clooney, Pierce Brosnan and even Katie Holmes have had Bell''s Palsy and they are all doing fine, I''m trying to be optimistic.

So, no, 40 is not old!

 

[Ellen]

I haven''t. And I''ve only got five months left before I turn fifty, but I don''t look at that as old either. I think 60 will bother me a little. However, considering the alternative, I''ll take it.

 

[Black Jade]

I don''t know if it''s old or not.
It seems young to me now as I''m in my fifties.
I find it interesting that so many on this thread feel obliged to say that they feel okay being forty because they''ve been reassured that they don''t ''look it''.
Probably they don''t--but would it be so bad if they did?
When people tell me that I don''t look fifty, I think that what they mean, probably, is wow, you''re fifty and still attractive. It seems to be surprising that in American culture nowadays that it''s possible to be older and not look like Granny on the Beverley Hillbillies or something. But I never have seen a granny who looked like that. My own granny reached 20 in the 1920''s and like all her generation, kept wearing bobbed hair and fur collared coats forever--so I thought all old ladies always looked like this. Then my mom reached her older years and she wears leisure suitsand flip flops being of the generation that came of age in the 1950''s when clothes were New Look and very elegant but required girdles and white gloves but then decided in the 80''s that comfort mean more than anything.
Now my generation (Baby Boom) is getting older and I''m startled at the amount of women in their fifties and early 60''sI see that wear not just jeans, but have very long hair a la Peggy Lipton. It''s not everybody, but its a LOT of people. It seems to me that staying youthful to a lot of people means staying in the styles of their youth? Which there''s nothing wrong with.

I personally don''t particularly want to look youthful--and I hate the styles of my youth, having spent years looking forward to being old enough to wear pearls and high heels only to get to that age and find that everybody was in ripped jeans and love beads. So I wear the pearls and high heels and pencil skirts and silk blouses and so on now. Sometimes I wear ethnic clothes, such as salwar kameez or qipao. These happen to be clothes that look great on women with some grey in their hair. I know a great many pretty women who are in their 70''s and their 80''s who don''t look a day younger than that--but are definitely pretty. And they have a great look of being comfortable with who they are from INSIDE that it''s impossible to have at 20 or even 30. Some of them dye their hair and some don''t. Some are still slim and some have put on pounds with age. All have found clothing styles that suit them (and that mostly tend towards the classic, which is kinder to older women) and none of them do Botox, nor are they face-lifted. At least, I assume that they don''t because all have wrinkles. Which are sort of a natural thing that is not unattractive at a certain point, KWIM? And I do not mind getting to that point.

I look at them and look forward to getting older.

Consider the alternative, which is what my 78 year old very athletic mother (she is a large woman and she is athletic, not an oxymoron) keeps telling me, and it is an encouragement.

 

[somethingshiny]

Date: 7/18/2009 8:34:07 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie
No.


It is funny, as I get older I realize that you do''t actually *feel* any different inside as you age. Maybe a little more mature, grounded etc. But basically you are the same person when you are older as you were when you are younger. Probably that is why its so hard to age -- you look in the mirror and think ''Wh othe heck is that?'' LOL!

exactly. The other day someone asked how old I was and I was ready to tell them I was 25.....I''ll be 30 in October! So, no, 40 isn''t old. To me, my grandma is JUST getting old and she''ll be 80 soon.

 

[icekid]

I think the answer to this question depends on how old you are

Now that I am closing in on 30, not really! But it still does seem "older," but I think that it because I still think of us as being perpetually 23.

My parents just turned 50 and I don''t think of them as old! But husband''s parents on the other hand.....

 

[PinkTower]

Maturity wise, yes I do. People in their forties have the life experience to lead the country.
As a teacher, I know children consider people in their forties old. It is interesting to observe them, they consider all adults old, and seem to feel a teacher in their thirties is as old as a teacher in their fifties. Either you are an adult, or you are one of them.
Adults seem more interested in dividing adults into subsets.

 

[Regular Guy]

Date: 7/18/2009 1:48:58 AM
Author: Richard Sherwood
The 40''s decade felt good. I didn''t really feel ''old''.

Now that I''m in the 50''s decade though I''m feeling it a bit.

Ditto that.

Also, somewhere in the last decade, my become older is showing as well...probably a function of having some white hair blended into my darker hair.

But, for whatever reason, having been identified before as looking young for my age...definitely, more lately, I am nailed as an older guy.

And, at 53, better or worse, maybe I''m like Haven''s colleague...at least I''ve made it this far, and life has been good. A sense a bit is that what comes is gravy.

I think a well crafted goal will tighten that up a bit.

 

[Ara Ann]

I don't think 80 is old either...my mom just turned 79 and has as much energy as I do and is very active... My DH still has both of his grandmothers, one is 93 and the other is 91 and still lives and takes care of her own home...I think 93 is 'getting there' - but we have great examples of older people to look up to in our family.


Black Jade, about looking young equating to feeling young...I think it does matter, at least to me. I have taken very good care of my skin for example, I avoid the sun because I am fair skinned, I don't smoke or drink...I think if I had more 'wear and tear' outwardly, it would affect how I felt inside...I wouldn't want to look older than I am for instance. My oldest son's girlfriend's mother is my age (6 months older than I am), is a regular smoker, sunbather and social drinker...and it does show in her face. She looks a lot older than I do, just based on surface things. Does this mean she doesn't 'feel' young? Maybe not, but I know it would make a difference in how I felt about myself.

 

[UCLABelle]

Well, not really, but then again, I am in my mid-20s. I do believe 40 is the new 30

 

[jewelerman]

39 was hard, 40 was easy.40 was old when i was 30.

 

[whitby_2773]

nope, but all age is perspectual. when i was 5 i thought 40 was ancient. when i''m 80 i''m sure i''ll think 40 is a mere whipper snapper.

i''ve just turned 49 and am curious to hear all the comments along the lines of ''enjoy it while it lasts'', as tho 50 signals the end of youthfulness. while i think ''youth'' ends at about 25, i think youthfulness is an individual thing which extends as far as good health and positive attitude takes it.

i think it''s a totally different question, tho, to ask if people LOOK young at 40.....

anyone care to go first on that one??

 

[KimberlyH]

At 31 I don't think 40 is old. I don't think 50 or 60 is old either though. Old, in my mind, is when a persons' world becomes smaller and smaller due to physical and mental limitations.

I have an aunt and uncle who are in their late 70s, she walks every morning at 6:30, he holds he record for most weights lifted at his gym; they travel, camp, work/volunteer, etc. and I don't think of them as old at all. Another aunt and uncle, in their early 70s, are very limited by their health and mental capacity, I do think of them as old. It's a lot more than a number, it's the people involved and how they are able to live.

 

[Haven]

Date: 7/18/2009 11:19:02 AM
Author: whitby_2773
[ . . . ]
i think it''s a totally different question, tho, to ask if people LOOK young at 40.....

anyone care to go first on that one??

I will! Can''t pass up an opportunity to post a picture of my sweet hubby.

He''s 39, so not quite 40 yet. But people regularly think he''s in his mid twenties and often don''t believe him when he tells them his age. He''s really fit, which you can''t see in this picture, but I think that has a lot to do with it. I also have some wisps of gray hair, and he has none.

He was 34 when we met and my mother didn''t believe me. She said "I thought we were meeting an older guy, what happened to him?"

It''s all in the genes, I say.

 

[Haven]

Now that I'm looking at the picture, I don't think he looks like he's in his mid twenties at all.

Interesting. He looks younger in color.