A unicorn, a storm trooper and a bee walk into a bar.....

Originally posted on 11/1/2016

​It happened: Yesterday on Halloween, I turned 45.  Dressed as a sparkly unicorn and nursing sore legs from the half marathon I ran the day before, I spent some time thinking about being 45 is good, and what I’ve learned now that I am officially in the middle of my life.  (Technically I plan to live to be 108, but that’s not entirely my call, so….)
 
These are in no particular order, by the way.
Do you see yourself in here?  Anything to add?
 
45 REASONS I’M GRATEFUL TO BE 45
 

1. After years of practicing, I finally have no problem saying no.
2. I know how to get attention. Sometimes feels more satisfying than getting it.
3. Great friends who I have known for so long we can just look at each other and know the whole story.
4. Wonderful new friends who don’t need to know the whole story to get it
5. Catcalls.  So rare now they actually make my day.
6. Small boobs.  I’m just happy to have small boobs that don’t yet sag.
7. Eileen Fisher.  That’ premature, but I hear I will be appreciating her very soon.
8. Curiosity.  I’m convinced it’s a natural antidepressant.
9.  I never have to walk into a Forever 21 again

10. When it comes to drinking, I know my limits.  Oh, I still exceed them, but now I do it     consciously.  Who was it that said “To drink tonight is to borrow happiness from tomorrow?”
11.  I know the difference between love and lust.  I appreciate them both.
12. I can afford nice shoes (yet still feel guilty for buying them for myself)
13. I am a mother of neither an infant nor a teenager.  Our son is 9. Thank you!!
14.  Both of my parents are still alive and well and living nearby.
15. I am happily married to my first husband.  Which has nothing to do with being 45 but it’s rare and awesome so I’m throwing it in here.
16. I still feel like a teenager when I hear Jane’s Addiction.
17. I know how to ask for what I need.
18. Breathing
19. I don’t wait.  I don’t mean that I am impatient, but that I no longer wait for things to come to me, or for someone to say something first.  Life is too short and by most calculations, I’m already half way done with a long, healthy life.  Now is now is now.
20. The bar for celebration has gotten MUCH lower.  You woke up this morning? Party on!
21. Rituals
22. The pain of high school is a distant memory.  I hear childbirth is like that too.  Some things are worth forgetting.
23. No one expects me to still have a bikini body. (It is still on the nice-to-have list though.)
24.  Saying what’s on my mind is far more liberating than being mysterious.  Finally got that one.
25. I’m quicker to apologize and slower to point fingers.  Who has time for grudges anyway?
26. I’m trusting my gut more and my cravings less.  I listen to my intuition, but now I actually question when my body says it cannot live without a truckload full of cotton candy.
27. You don’t have to choose between your face or your ass if you have a great esthetician.
28. I no longer have to try and look cool. Either I am or I’m not, there is no try.
29. A good night’s sleep is better than almost any after party.
30. Giving a compliment is more rewarding than receiving one. By the way, that shirt really brings out your eyes. 
31. Being called ma’am.  I used to want to punch people when they called me that.  Now it kind of feels like respect.
32.  Life is neither fair or unfair.
33.  No matter what the question, I realize now that love is usually the answer.
34. The alternative is much worse.
35. I can stop making lists whenever I feel like it.

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