m2bord's Journal: Things get interesting at 40

Well...I'm over my double depression of watching myself turn 40 and watching John Kerry lose the election.

Of the two, Turning 40 is the harder of the two.

For most of my youth I always wondered what was the fascination with turning 40.

Now I know.

When you turn 40, your outlook on things change.

You may like the latest Dre or Eminem joint but you don't dare let anyone catch you listening to it or liking it.

And sports...by now most guys my age are through playing professional sports. Well except for Barry Bonds and he has enough stuff coursing through his veins to preserve him for another 40 years.

I understand why guys quit playing around 40.

It's much harder to recover from the normal aches and pains. Add to it the drive to compete and your mind's willingness to commit to play hard and your body's inability to perform like a 30 year and you can quickly see the problem.

But there are good things that happen at 40 though.

First, I have a greater appreciation for my parents and what they went through. I see the errors of my ways and I'm more repentent.

Second, I am more patient.

Third, I've become even more diplomatic than before.

Yea...turning 40 means that close to half of my life is over. I look back at what I've accomplished and it seems so little compared to what needs to be done.

There's so much more I need to learn and so little time to do it all.

If I could live until I'm 300, maybe I would have the time to figure it all out but for now I'll remember the words of my elderly neighbor who told me this:

"John, there are two ways to live your life. You can work your butt off when you're young and enjoy things when you're older. Or you can enjoy like when you're young and work you're butt off when you're older. No matter which you choose, you will have to work you're butt off at some point."

And dogged if he wasn't right.

RIP Mr. McKey.