What Age Do You Feel at Heart?

A few days ago, I conducted a quick poll on Facebook to determine what age most Rocking Over 40 women feel at heart, regardless of their chronological age. A resounding majority feel younger than they really are…a couple of DECADES younger, as a matter of fact. Ooh-la-la! There were a minority of women who felt their age or much older and it was primarily due to illness, an unhealthy lifestyle, or overall exhaustion.
To check out the results on Facebook, click here
But generally, women in their 40s and 50s feel in their 20s at heart. I’ve often heard 40 is the new 20, but I think that is a flawed idea. You see, while most of us feel young at heart, I’m not sure we would actually want to be 20 again. We were all 20 once, and it was great, and it was fun, but it was also a time of inner turmoil and insecurities. We didn’t have the chutzpah we have now. Right?
So while I understand that ‘young at heart’ refers to the optimism, the livelihood, and energy of youth, my 40-year old brain feels younger than my 20-year old brain. I spent most of my 20s trying to figure out who I was and spending too much time worrying about what others thought. How exhausting! It was an intense time of transitions, transformations, confusion and insecurities, and one too many tequila shots…oy!  I was oftentimes caught up with things that I now realize really didn’t matter at all. I wasn’t in tune with what I wanted in life as I am now.
My 40-year old self has life experience and the perspective that comes with it, and ironically I feel lighter, younger, more carefree, and more content. Young at heart to me means someone who loves life, someone who is fully engaged and optimistic and tries new things, someone who is interesting, and learns from others, someone who is hope-filled and lives in the ‘now,’ and has a grateful heart.
So ladies, we are in the best decade of life! We rock our age, we are beautiful, we are smarter, we are kinder and more generous, we are more capable, and overall just cooler in every sense of the word. I hear it only gets better if we remain in the same state of mind. Much like our 20s helped shape us into who we are today, I believe this decade will very much define who we will be in our 60s, so keep up the sentiment and be proud that 40 is the new 40 because we are the epitome of what “young at heart” is all about.
Bring it on!