Completely freaking out about turning 40

[MiddleAgeAllTheRage]

I'm turning 40 within the next few months and I'm completely freaking out about it. 30 was scary enough. I've always felt youthful and just... young. But in the last twelve months or so I'm really starting to feel my age. My eyes have loads of wrinkles around them when I smile, my body feels a little stiffer, my hair is starting to get a bit thinner. It's harder to lose weight.

But most of all I'm absolutely terrified of what the next decade will bring me. I only have a few relatives left and I love them more than anything 😔 it's scary.

Am I old?! Is there anyway I can change this and go back to being 25?

I look great at 40 and happily wore a bikini on holiday recently, I wouldn’t have done that at 25!

We'll all be dead soon, don't worry about it. Enjoy what you have left! Best foot forward and all that.

Of course you’re not old. 40s were my best decade yet.

And yes, people will die. And it will be shit. But you’ll get through it.

40's has been my best decade yet!!

I love not giving a fuck

I've just turned 60 and would love to be 40 again.

Forty is great. You may have a few lines, but nothing major. Take control now by getting as much sleep as you can, drink lots of water, eat well and moisturise lots (with sun screen included).

You're reaching the age where you begin to care less what others think and it's very liberating. Enjoy it while you can and live your best life OP.

I'm 44. It's great. I don't feel old at all, just chilled.

My mum felt like she was old at 40 and decrepit at 60 even though she's now a fit and healthy 75. I can't imagine feeling old at 50. Maybe things are going to cha ge massively in the next 6 years but I'd be surprised.

Great advice. I’d add, if you can, join a gym, book a session with a personal trainer & start weight training to build muscle. I’ve just started & wish I’d begun at 40.

Finally found the right career at 40. Have got through the hard part of DS being a baby, give far less f*s about other people's opinion etc and can choose what to do with my time outside of work again, to some degree (currently mostly sleeping but....)

I'm 44 and I look and feel phenomenal - seriously, am probably in better shape now than I was in my 20s!

Hitting 40 doesn't mean an inevitable slow descent into a blue rinse and shopping trolley you know, you've got plenty of time to find opportunities for whatever you want. Even better, in your 40s you stop giving a fuck about what anyone else thinks of you.

And let's face it, the alternative isn't particularly inviting...

It’s better than the alternative
feel blessed you got there
after a few days you won’t even notice much difference
I’ve just turned 60 and it feels like I’ve always been that now lol
embrace it and feel blessed if i were you

I'm 25 years older than you and don't feel old.

I became a parent at 41.

Pah! I'm 45 and have an orange belt in kickboxing, changed jobs not long ago and feel fine. Mr Monkey is 50 and recently ran a marathon in under 3.15hrs.

Yes you aren't 25 any more but you aren't decrepid.

I'm 42 and in the last two years I've got married, changed my job, lost 2st 10lbs, prioritised certain friendships and taken up 3 new hobbies. 40s are great. My DH turns 40 in February and he's feeling the same as you but honestly it's great.

My 40s have been crap. Easily the worst decade of my life. But that is more due to circumstances than anything else (ex "d"H let me down in the worst possible way the year I turned 40 and I'm now divorced and a lone parent, my career and earning power is at a low ebb instead of a high due to my situation, my health has been poor and obviously lock downs, cost of living etc. And now perimenopause). I don't have a problem with just being in my 40s.

How are you lot not wrinkly at 40?!

I've got no wrinkles at 65 ... age is just a number, my DM is 90 and enjoying life and embracing new opportunities.
Honestly, I wouldn't want to be young again (and not in the current state the world is in), age brings experience, wisdom and the freedom to not need to 'follow the crowd'.

Why be terrified of turning 40, nothing bad happens as soon as you hit it, unless you eat hit by a bus. But that could potentially happen today.

I turn 40 I'm April and, apart from booking a nice little trip to the seaside and a table at a seafood restaurant with DH, your post made me realise I've not given it much of a thought so far.
It's just a day. Like Christmas is just a day. You wake up the next day and feel exactly the same.
Unlike you though, I have to say I feel physically like I did when I was 18. Sorry, I don't mean to be goady. I just mean, perhaps I'd find it harder to turn 40 if I could actually feel that the ageing process had kicked in.
And remember OP, 40 is young compared to the next big birthday - 50!

I agree with every word of this. I just turned 50 and would love to have the last decade again

To add to my post above, DH just did a total retrain into a radically different (and very physical) career at 40. So between us, we feel like we've got our whole lives ahead of us still! 😁 Call me deluded I guess!

So they’re 60, that’s just edging out of middle age these days. Make the most of your relative youth - I’m 70 and would kill to have my 40 year old body back again.

I'm 39 and my mum is just over 20 years older at 60. I don't think she's likely to die in the next decade! Even if she did, it's no way to think and live your life.

You aren't deluded. 40 isn't considered old like it was decades ago!

Maybe it’s because I’ve worked outside my whole life?! But I defo look 40! It’s actually hard to believe when someone says they look 25 when they’re 40, or don’t have wrinkles…. Especially at 60! I know if you carry more weight on you’re face you’re less likely to have many wrinkles