Forty-one Years

So, it's just a few days away from my 41st year.  I know, forty is the big 4-0 but I keep thinking, well, I am now IN my forties.  That just seems different - not at all in a bad way though because I am not one of those people to get caught up on age and aging and all that stuff.  I just try to keep moving forward and embrace whatever lies ahead.

I have enjoyed pushing my body to run, bike, hike and enjoy just being fit over the past 12 months.  I am celebrating the fact that in my forties I am the fittest I have ever been, except maybe as a young child.  Certainly since middle school on.  I enjoy being active and being outdoors and it is amazing to me that just six years ago that wasn't the case.  I was eating junk, feeding junk to my family and my daycare kids, not exercising other than the occasional walk and was always unhappy, feeling overwhelmed and anxious and just blah.  I don't even recognize that life or that person any more.  People sometimes ask what got me started on my journey and I don't really know.  I know that I was unhappy.  I know that I wanted a change but I'd tried so many diets, fads and thought that how I was was who I was destined to be.  Now I know that was an excuse I was giving myself.  I was destined to be whatever I was because of my own choices.

So, I started making better choices, little by little and then about a year or so ago, my choices got bigger and bigger to make me who I am today.  I can't even stomach processed food - my body literally rejects it and I know that the food choices I make affect more than me, more than my family even.  I choose to vote on what is important by giving my food dollars to companies that support what I believe in.  Yes, it means things may cost more sometimes, but that is a choice I am making and I will continue to make.

So, it was in my thirties that I started making these changes but I will be living them through my forties, fifties, and on and on as long as God has it planned for me to be on this Earth.  I am welcoming my first grandchild this year (I know you will all be SICK of hearing about that!) and I want to be an active grandma; one who can keep up with him or her and enjoy and embrace every second.  I want to be the mom to my kids that helps through these adult years of change.  I am ready for that next phase.  And I am excited to be a wife to a husband who shares my love of being outdoors.  I am ready for us to be empty-nesters, running all over the place, finding new trails and new adventures all the way together.

Being 41 to me means having more wisdom, more understanding and more of the ability to stand up for what I believe in, because I know who I am better than ever before.  This year has been one with some changes and obstacles I didn't expect but I know that all things happen for a reason and God is directing my path.  I trust where I'm headed and I know that, 41, although just a number, will still be a glorious year!

Sheri