Life does not begin at 40. Neither is 40 the new 30 (or new 50 for that matter). 40 is the same 40 it has always been. It is a nice round number and, as an age, it is as good as any that comes after it, and most of the ones that came before.
Like all milestones, turning 40 is an opportunity to pause life’s noisy parade for a moment, to think about the joys and sorrows we have experienced to that point, and to re-commit to the aspirations that have grown in our hearts since they first began to beat.
In the 40th and final year of his life, John Lennon wrote a song about his feelings on reaching that milestone…
They say life begins at forty Age is just a state of mind If all that's true You know that I've been dead for thirty-nine And if life begins at forty Well, I hope it ain't the same It's been tough enough without that stuff I don't wanna to be born again Well, I tried to sweep the slate clean With a new broom every day If that don't work I'll jerk around until my next birthday
Words & Music by Mike Power 