TURNING 40…and wishing GINA a HAPPY BIRTHDAY

so, lovely readers today is GINA’s birthday and our third and final part of the chat with my beautiful friend and blogger,

to read part one… to read part two…

ME: So Gina, today you are 40, is it what you imagined? are YOU what you imagined you would be at this age? did you ever sit and visualize yourself at 40? do YOU look like you remember your mom looked when she was 40? Have you set some specific goal to accomplish by this date?

GINA: I feel the same as I did when I was 18, in fact I am a person that was born immature and I think I’ll continue being that way. I identify best with the younger group that with the older people. I have the language of a teenager not of a 40 year old woman…I know that’s not good but I really don’t care. Forty is just a number that chronologically follows 39, that’s it. I know 20 year-olds who have a such a sour outlook that not even a 60 year old has. Eventhough my mom has always been young at heart I saw her as a MRS….I don’t feel like a MRS. yet, can you believe that?!

ME: Sweetheart, I sure can, I’m right there with you! My son still has plans for me for when I grow up, he says he wants me to be a chef…now that isn’t helping me, though for them to make plans for my future is quite a nice morale boost, they don’t see my going down hill and they know I have the curiosity of a child their age…so, age can be just a number!!

GINA: As for my goals, they’ve changed over time and according to my life’s circumstances, motivations and possibilities. I left my carreer for my children but I haven’t dismissed the idea of one day going back to work, at least in my family’s business. I think I haven’t had the chance to sit down and visualize myself, I’ve been living each day!

ME: I see what you mean, but I can’t help think about those theories that recommend we visualize ourselves as what we’d like to be and do, which makes me think that maybe we’ve lived haphazardly or just letting time take control…right now, at 40, I do think it’s not a bad idea to start mapping out a path or strategy, because I really feel that from now on we are manning the ship, there’s no wind in favor or against us, only ourselves and a keen eye to catch the breeze that blows in our favor, in favor of our dreams…Being immature as we are, we are dreamers and we’ve still got a long list and after 40 we know we are not eternal not like before…

And, connecting what we were then and what we are now, before, our mistakes would wrap us up in a pity frenzy, with no appetite, insomnia, no will to live…but now, our mistakes have become an opportunity to grow, to show ourselves some forgiveness and carry on…

GINA: There’s a remedy for everything in life except death. ‘WHATEVER’ is a key word in my daily vocabulary. I didn’t sweep the floors! No problem. I ate the whole donut! No problem. I can see my greys and have my appointment in three days! cover them up with mascara. I forgive because I realize there is nothing to forgive. I understand my mom better when she wouldn’t give me permission to go out or she talked bluntly to me. 

I sometimes feel I’ve lost valuable time, however, with all this technology and social media we are now having a chance to make up for all that lost time, to remedy old misunderstanding with friends that I loved and still love.

ME: On that note, what place do FRIENDS have in your life?

GINA: They are like my sisters. Not just because I’m away from my family but because they are the ones that know me best.

ME: What place do DREAMS have in your life?

GINA: Dreams are more than planned illusions. If they come to reality just how you designed them: GOOD! If not, well we just do some modifying. My dreams now are adaptable to my possibilities. I think I now know what I can achieve and what I may never accomplish.

ME: Where do you want to go from here?

GINA: I want to get to a place where I can say WOW, I really enjoyed and took good advantage of my life!

ME: Do you have a MANTRA or a DAILY AFFIRMATION that you repeat to yourself every day?

GINA: I BELIEVE IN ME…maybe 20 years ago I didn’t, but TODAY I DO!!

ME: Although there are still so may plans for the future, so many things in your to-do list, being here today with a healthy SELF-ESTEEM and SELF-CONFIDENCE is the perfect fuel to keep going…

LOVE YOU FRIEND! have a fabulous day!!

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from me to you!!