Life Begins At 40 With Mind Games

Newcastle Herald

Monday June 2, 2008

HE SAID SHE SAID WITH DAVID AND TANYA OF KO-FM 102.9

HE SAID

I'D like to know exactly who coined the phrase "life begins at 40" in the first place. Was it the same person who said "all good things come to those who wait" and "when one door closes, another one opens"?

I'm here to tell you, life does not begin at 40. It changes, but it doesn't necessarily begin. It can begin and end whenever you like, actually, but the harsh reality is this: your life is actually half over at 40. Chronologically, anyway, and that's the way I've always looked at it.

Be honest, by the time you've reached middle age there are parts of your body that won't quite be working the way they did, say, 20 years ago, unless you're a supreme athlete who hasn't succumbed to any of life's evil temptations.

You've also experienced a lot more, so you're probably a lot more independent and cautious than you were when you were 20 years younger. So many people see turning 40 as being the start of a whole new ball game, but for me it was the beginning of the end. It was like there was a referee blowing half-time somewhere in between my brain and my body.

What have we got to look forward to now? A bus pass? Superannuation? Retirement? I think life can begin whenever you want it to begin, and that's as much a philosophy as it is a physical state of being.

I'd like to think I have a young head on an old body but I must confess, I'd be quite happy if that could be reversed too.

SHE SAID

ADMITTEDLY I have been sucked into buying many things in my life thus far goji berry juice, bionic ionisers, wonderbras, anything with the words "natural", "organic" or "environmentally friendly" on them, just to name a few.

But the biggest line, or should that be lie, I've bought into is "life begins at 40". If this proves not to be true I vow to track down every one of those wise elders who so flippantly added to my brainwashed expectation and drown them in a large jar of very expensive anti-ageing cream.

It just has to, otherwise what would be the point of surviving the awkward, spotty teen years, the tortuous body-conscious 20s and the overworked, underpaid 30s?

Surely the phrase didn't simply occur to a melancholy 39-year-old who, on the eve of such an inauspicious milestone, dug deep to find a reason for being rather than topping himself at the thought of his knees buckling under middle-aged spread but his belt refusing to.

It's a chance to be the person you've been in training to be the sexy, self-assured, comfortable-in-your-own-skin man or woman.

I fully expect to be doing things at 40 and beyond that I've been too timid to do in my 30s. But someone also said that life begins when the kids are grown and the last dog is dead, which means I'm still in utero for another 15 years.

David and Tanya can be heard on KO-FM 102.9 from 5.30am to 9am Monday to Friday. Email davidandtanya@kofm.com.au.

© 2008 Newcastle Herald

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