"Piglet", said Rabbit, taking out a pencil, and licking the end of it, "you haven't any pluck." "It is hard to be brave," said Piglet, sniffling slightly, "when you're only a Very Small Animal."
It may sound silly but I have an curiously hard time killing small things. Spiders, bugs, and even plants. Recently I began an herb garden and my first project was basil. I planted it from seeds in little pots and set them in my sunny kitchen window.
I waited excitedly and checked daily for the wee seedlings to sprout. (Sometimes simple things like this make me extremely happy. There are some things in life that will amaze me - this being one, airplanes another).
There is something courageous and miraculous about how they sprout and root and push their way through the soil. The part I don't like about the growing-from-seed process, is inevitably it becomes time to thin out the seeds. In order for the plants to do their best we must take a hard look and say "okay seeds, it's survival of the fittest time - the small ones have to go to make room for the hardy''. It's a sad moment for me, because I see that they are all trying to make a go of this thing called life. And who am I to decide which one's stay and which one's go? Plus, I have always been one to cheer on the underdog, so in my mind I'm thinking that the less ostentatious little seedlings could maybe just possibly beat out the big guys? I don't know, not likely I suppose.
What does this have to do with being 40? Sometimes when we reach a milestone like turning 40 we have to be very brave, like Piglet and the little sprouting basils. Because it's easy to start thinking (maybe obsessing) about a number. Next it's 50, then 60, then 70!
I will close with this nice quote I saw on the Oprah Forum from a forty-something,
"Turning 40 is not so bad at all. Like they say, "Age is nothing but a number." You may be older but you are still the same person. I have more energy, my sex life is terrific, and I'm at peace with how my life is turning out. Embrace it!''
It may sound silly but I have an curiously hard time killing small things. Spiders, bugs, and even plants. Recently I began an herb garden and my first project was basil. I planted it from seeds in little pots and set them in my sunny kitchen window.
I waited excitedly and checked daily for the wee seedlings to sprout. (Sometimes simple things like this make me extremely happy. There are some things in life that will amaze me - this being one, airplanes another).
There is something courageous and miraculous about how they sprout and root and push their way through the soil. The part I don't like about the growing-from-seed process, is inevitably it becomes time to thin out the seeds. In order for the plants to do their best we must take a hard look and say "okay seeds, it's survival of the fittest time - the small ones have to go to make room for the hardy''. It's a sad moment for me, because I see that they are all trying to make a go of this thing called life. And who am I to decide which one's stay and which one's go? Plus, I have always been one to cheer on the underdog, so in my mind I'm thinking that the less ostentatious little seedlings could maybe just possibly beat out the big guys? I don't know, not likely I suppose.
What does this have to do with being 40? Sometimes when we reach a milestone like turning 40 we have to be very brave, like Piglet and the little sprouting basils. Because it's easy to start thinking (maybe obsessing) about a number. Next it's 50, then 60, then 70!
I will close with this nice quote I saw on the Oprah Forum from a forty-something,
"Turning 40 is not so bad at all. Like they say, "Age is nothing but a number." You may be older but you are still the same person. I have more energy, my sex life is terrific, and I'm at peace with how my life is turning out. Embrace it!''