Did anything good happen to you in your forties?

[Sashamalia]

To anyone over 40, I am not calling you old.

I just turned 40. And i feel sad.

I've bought into the marketing that women are over the hill at 40, and basically nothing good happens to us after that age.

I need to snap myself out of it

I met my husband. Very much a good thing!

I'm glad you've found peace x

The menopause,aged 49 - hallelujah! Glad to see the back of that phase of life......

Re your first paragraph, I’d be interested to know the demographic split of people who get Botox, cosmetic procedures etc- it wouldn’t surprise me if the highest proportion was women in their 30s still trying to hang on to ‘youth’! And of those who get it in their 40s, 50s and beyond- maybe they’re the small proportion of women of this age who still seek male approval/care what others think?
Certainly of all my friends/acquaintances in their 40s+, I don’t know any who have Botox (I realise maybe some don’t admit to it but there are no visible signs anyway). The people I do know who partake are female colleagues in their late 20s!!

https://imga.ch/2023/03/07/international-womens-day-alex-rotas-75-changes-perception-about-ageing-through-her-photos-of-older-women-in-sports/?fbclid=IwAR0mbnBTOfrXQZ4bOHDi0QXj5t2L2lnDGuSTdsiFyJLMvDoK_QrAZ1rhpXc_aem_AZp2GaoYGKKN4qnDit9sAVTFPdUmLGkqZRfJmvNHwolQTFcHu3BZwrY5mJDgA6L261yfBYqMLYgV7BO6VLgSGApm

Going to Glastonbury for the first time 😁💃... and getting out and about more.

40 is young!
I’m 60 very soon. In my head I’m 40 😁

Nearly at the end of my forties now. In the last 9 years I've:
Found a career I love
earn 3 times more than I did in my 30s
Gained 2 professional qualifications
Got promoted
Have the best sex of my life
Am happier and more content than I've ever been
Marriage is the best it's been after nearly 30 years together
Finally spent time in therapy to sort out all my childhood shit

I'm the youngest in my friendship group and have the honour of being surrounded by clever, funny, kind women aged 50 to 75 who show me that age really doesn't matter.

Having not worked much in my 30s due to kids, in my 40s I got to focus again on my career. I became a senior manager and my earnings massively increased.

I didn’t realise the value of this until both kids went to uni. It’s an expensive few years.

I qualified as an accountant and became a grandmother. Im still (just!) in my forties, plenty more good times to come 🤞🤞

Time for a bit of manifesting OP!
Why not set some goals about what you'd like to do next?

And remember most people miss some stuff about their youth but still wouldn't choose to turn the clock back.

We asked my late grandad which decade of his life had been the best and he said definitely the current one. He was 90 when we asked.

Studied have shown that from age 55 onwards women tend to become increasingly happy with life every year. So there's that to look forward to!

I took a really big step up in my career at 40 and got married at 43 :)

2 of my kids left home in my early 40s. Had much more freedom. Started solo travelling at age 42 and still doing so 10 years later. Became self employed so not needing to do things on a bosses timetable

Loads of fabulous things have happened in my 40's.

I am more confident and care less what others think which is incredibly liberating - like taking off an itchy jumper you've been wearing for years!

I changed my job - I earn more in my new role and feel valued for my experience.

My kids are so much more independent and I can see the end in sight of the day to day parenting responsibilities that have take up so much of my 30's

I have made loads of friends in my 40's and now have time to invest in those friendships and spend time having fun with those people.

I look much better now I am not constantly exhausted by small children and covered in sticky handprints and spilled orange squash etc.

It's honestly fabulous and it really is true that ageing is a privilege that not everyone gets to enjoy

I don’t find that to be true anymore. So many drama and some films now have older women as the leads!

My eldest started primary school when I turned 40 in 2011. I made a group of friends in her reception year who are (with the exception of my bestie) the best friends I’ve ever had. Now as our kids are older and we have more freedom - we have started taking city breaks and weekend trips to galleries etc. and have really supported one another through some tough times. Don’t know what I’d do without them!

I learned to ski at 44 and now go every year and absolutely love it. Who knew going down hill fast (it feels fast to me!) would be so exhilarating!

I kicked arse at work during my 40s and it was my most effective career decade by far.

I also put on a few stone that I should probably care more about and my eyebrows need work but we can’t have everything! Go smash it

Yeah!

married my second husband, had a surprise "oh that's not the menopause then" baby and finally, after years of minimum wage jobs, started my own business.

Intrigued by this as everyone I know says menopause is horrendous?

I'm late 30s and also concerned about my 40s as a lot of stuff people seem to be listing here seem to be things I've already done/have/aren't interested in and I feel like I only have wrinkles and hormone imbalances in my future...!

Aging can feel difficult but I think you have to embrace it. My mum started a new career in her 40s, got a masters degree and published a book. She also went on a 100 mile walk with her closest friends. Why don’t you plan a goal to work towards, it might get you out of this negative mindset.

Yes. Shit bag gaslighting cheating bloodsucking husband finally effed off when I was 42, met amazing out of the blue man, married again at 43, just had first baby at 45. Can't wait to see what comes next. My life truly began at 40 once I started to listen to my intuition and ignore those who tried to drag me down. Don't be sad :)

Loved turning 40. It started so well. First few years - dream flat, great life/work balance, and a lot of time in my favourite city overseas. Then, came the shit show of redundancy, eviction, ( debilitating) premature menopause, and just when I was getting back on an even keel after the pandemic, cancer.

Still, am hopeful my 50s will be amazing as I'll be entering them pretty much with a clean slate.

I'm in my 40s. I feel better now, than my 30s. I'm fitter and in better shape.

potato57

Intrigued by this as everyone I know says menopause is horrendous?

Maybe people are more likely to mention it if they've found it difficult?
If, like me, they barely noticed it then there isn't much to say and, obviously, nobody appreciates someone like me chirping up with "It was fine!" if they're having a rotten time.
So I - and probably people like me - who didn't have problems stay quiet.

I'm late 30s and also concerned about my 40s as a lot of stuff people seem to be listing here seem to be things I've already done/have/aren't interested in

But that's one of the nice things. Yes, there maybe fewer milestones/goals but it's nice to be enjoying life and not striving for the next thing. In my 40s (and in my 50s) it's nice to see my children growing up and becoming independent, to have got where I wanted with my job etc
So I can spend more time doing the things I enjoy. You must have some things you enjoy and would like to have more time for?

I’m about to head into my 50’s (next week 😳) my 40’s have been a mix of ups and downs but I’ve changed my job for more sociable hours, I’ve become the fittest I’ve ever been, my kids are now older teens that are happy and doing well, we moved house to one we are all much happier living in and we got a dog. Life is pretty good and although I’ve been worried about turning 50
i have lots of lovely things planned to celebrate

yes the perimenopause has been pretty horrendous but HRT is helping massively

Mid forties here. While I don’t think any decade is better or worse than another, or that life goes downhill after x age, what I have noticed about my forties is that my parents, my partners parents and those of friends are passing seventy and are - to put it bluntly - often seriously ill, dying, or dead.

Not all of them by any means - some will no doubt go on to their nineties. But meeting up with friends my age recently it’s been noticeable how much of the conversation is about someone’s mums cancer, someone else’s dads dementia etc.