Thursday 26 February 2015

Turning forty doesn't hurt...REALLY?!

"It doesn't hurt. Honest." So said a number of friends on the approach to my milestone birthday.  

I don't consider myself to be a particularly fragile person.  However three months into this business of being forty and guess what? It does hurt. A lot.

Appearance
Let's get the vanity issues out of the way first, shall we? On the grey hair front, individual strands have morphed into wiry forests of full-blown white.  Fine lines have turned into crevices.  And don't even get me started on the injustice of having both wrinkles AND adult acne.  Surely one or the other is sufficient?

Maintenance costs
These are directly related to the unfortunate phenomena above.  Cleansing one's face with a baby wipe no longer cuts it as a beauty regime. Ditto to buying cheapo home hair dyes. The more mature lady requires a considerably larger budget in order to look semi-human. Enter my new obsession with the latest anti-wrinkle creams. And let's not dwell on my rocketing annual hair salon outlay.

The eye-watering expense doesn't end with beauty products though. The wardrobe needs to up its game too. Gone are the days when you can trip into New Look, select the first pair of £20 court shoes in the right colour and waltz out again.  Oh no. Forty-year old feet require quality footwear. And by quality I mean expensive. Likewise, the clothes shops of your teenage years with their teeny sizes (and teeny prices) are no longer your domain. Instead, you beat a path to the Hobbs sale because "their fit is so much more flattering."


Fitness
In fairness, I was warned about this one. A super-fit forty-something friend told me that she has to "do more just to stay in the same place".  No kidding.  I've upped my own regime with no tangible improvement in - er - anything.  Then there's the aches, pains and creaking joints to deal with.  I crouched down to retrieve something in a meeting recently.  The crack from my knees almost caused an echo.  If I don't die of decrepitude, I may well die of embarrassment.

Online form filling
Always a tedious exercise, this has reached a new level of discomfort.  I've now joined a bracketed age group that extends to 55.  Then there's the scrolling backwards to find one's year of birth, which takes an eternity.

I do, however, always like to end on a high. With that, let's consider my new eligibility for the veteran's category in running events. It may seem depressing, however it also means that I'm no longer competing against lithe eighteen year olds.  

As one fellow forty said: "Let's enter everything this year, while we're still the youngest."

Amen to that.

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20 comments:

  1. Hahaha...I seemed to have by-passed all of the above and I'm much older than you! We can keep each other young in our dotage! Xxx

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    1. Yes, you must pass on your secret of eternal youth Mrs C!

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  2. I really like this post of yours Clare about turning 40. I too will reach that milestone later this year :-)

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    1. Thanks very much Cathy! Have lots of fun planning your own celebrations - that is definitely a fun part ;-)

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  3. This made me realized that I am going to be 4o this year and I need to step up my game =P #pocolo

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    1. I'm sure your game is just great as it is pixiedusk! I referred to myself as a "thirty something" as much as possible during the weeks leading up to my 40th birthday ;-) As ever, thanks for reading and commenting.

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  4. What is it about -0 numbers, we are excited about 10 and 20 and then it kind of goes a bit downhill from there... until 100! I am sure going to be happy to get there. I am 30 this year, and the thought of that is scary... though I am sure that just like turning 40 it wont hurt =)

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    1. I think 30 probably does feel scary at the time too (I can almost remember it!). Enjoy celebrating your new youthful decade. Thanks so much for visiting the blog and commenting :-)

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  7. I turned 40 last year and honestly didn't give a damn. I've no idea why - as most of my friends were dreading it. I think I foolishly didn't think too much about it. I feel your pain on some of the above though. My biggest revelation is that I really now should only shop in the better retailers like Jigsaw and Karen Millen - other high street stores just don't like my mummy tummy, bingo arms and expanding legs any more :( #pocolo

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    1. There is something to be said for not giving these milestone birthdays too much thought ;-) And we're all with you on the bingo wings and mummy tummy scenarios... Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting.

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  8. This is an interesting perspective! I'm sure you'll do great, I know many 40 year olds who love their age :)

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    1. I'm pretty sure I'll learn to love it too! Thanks for commenting Tarana.

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  9. Yes to all of these. Especially the indignity of having to scroll down on online forms!

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    1. Feels never-ending, doesn't it?! Thanks for stopping by and commenting :-)

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  10. Hahaha! I don't feel 'quite' that bad - but I get where you are coming from. It doesn't get any easier from here on in either! Thank you for linking to #PoCoLo x

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    1. I think that retaining a sense of humour is key ;-) Thanks Victoria - I always enjoy participating in #PoCoLo. Hope life is good with you. C x

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  11. Love these sentiments. I turned 40 a few years back and have kind of got used to it (I'm in total denial!), and I have no idea what my natural hair colour is as I've had it pink for so long now (may as well keep it as I hear blue rinses are all the rage and I like to be a little different).

    I totally agree with the having to do more to maintain the same level of fitness (I thought it was just me!) and I like your style; entering loads of races as you're the youngest in the age group.

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    1. Hi Debbie, thanks for your comments. I absolutely love the idea of pink hair - maintaining a natural colour is completely overrated ;-) As for the ongoing fitness challenge, I think us forty-somethings need to keep cheering one another on!

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