Life begins at 40?

[Addie]

After 40, I finally learned to say "No" to my kids. No, I don't have a couple of hundred dollars so you can buy a ticket to a concert where you can't even hear the music. Go to work and earn the money yourself. I need my money for traveling.

"No, I will not use my vaction time to babysit your kids while you go to Mexico for your vaction."

"No, I will not buy designer jeans for your kids for Christmas. They will get what I give them."

But in exchange, I started to develop a new arse ache each day. Who cares! I was off to wherever my newfound freedom was taking me. And spending my money on me.

 

[buckytom]

my second life began at 40. ok, well, 39 and 1/2.

dw and i had our son 6 months before my 40th birthday. before that, i lived a (what seems like now a) selfish life. it was all about experiencing life, having fun, working hard, and learning as i went along, no pressure or real responsibility. but in retrospect, it was all about me.

then my boy was born, and now to my great delight, nothing is about me but rather what i can teach from those years of experience, and what i can give back to both my family and my community.

i don't know what i did to deserve such a great gift as a wife and a son, but i wouldn't trade it for the world.

so yes, my life, my second life, began around 40.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

Good Morning,

Truly interesting post ...

I aim and look at life in an extraordinaire manner, with a positive attitude in all I do and an openess as I learn something new daily.

I was born in 1962, thus, I had the gals when I was 18 ... They are 10 months apart.

I was involved in their upbringing, studying at same time and we lived abroad several years too ... and travelled extensively. Now the Gals are moms themselves and I am about to leave the my 40s ...

We do not look at the age factor as some people at 40 are really 90 in their mentality and the way they do not take care of their health & bodies and some at 50 are 30 ... we look at making use of every moment of our day, and enjoying all we do ...

Have some wkend.
39 Forever,
Margi.

 

[Mel!]

... The sudden bouts of forgetfulness are a little troubling as well. Nothing worse than opening the door of the fridge and forgetting what you were in there for. Or not being able to recall a word you've used a thousand times before. That one drives me nuts.

That's been happening to me all my life, and is still happening. I am easily distracted. It used to drive my school teachers nuts.

 

[Mel!]

At 40 I embarked on a new adventure. Finished nursing school and found the vocation of a lifetime.

Wow! That is incredible! I have been wondering if I am now too old to start things, that are usually what way younger people do. Maybe, the 'it is never too late' cliche is true, afterall.

You dont look a day older than 40, in your profile pic.

 

[taxlady]

My spell checker always wants to spell my last name as "Ambiguous."

My spell checker lets me add words. My long, unusual last name is usually one of the first things that I add to a new spell checker.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Wow! That is incredible! I have been wondering if I am now too old to start things, that are usually what way younger people do. Maybe, the 'it is never too late' cliche is true, afterall.

You dont look a day older than 40, in your profile pic.

Thanks Mel, I will be 52 this year. I started nursing school when I was 35, did the 4 year with a Bachelor's degree. If I can do it, anyone can. Before that I had been a cook and cashier. Took a stint in the nursing home as a nurse's aide to decide what I wanted to be when I grew up.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

My spell checker lets me add words. My long, unusual last name is usually one of the first things that I add to a new spell checker.

I know, but it cracks me up and I'm easily entertained.

 

[Margi Cintrano]

@ Princess Fiona: You Are An Inspiration

Fiona,

I have been meaning to let you know that I have read your awesome and inspiring story about returning to Nursing Institute at the age of 40.

Your passion, the extensive hard labor put in to studying and learning and motivation to become a Nurse is amazing and for certain, you have accomplished your Professional Dream and have helped uncountable people in need and are continuing to do so.

Wonderful.

Have lovely wkend,
Margi. Cintrano.

 

[Barbara L]

Life begins when you start living it. I think 40 is kind of a turning point for many people. Kind of a mixture of youthful exuberance and wisdom that comes with age. I became a grandmother at 40. I was around 40 when I first experienced the Internet, both the bad and good (I put bad first for a reason!). I was around 40 when I devoted my life more fully to Jesus.

I definitely believe in living in the present, planning (but not over-planning) for the future, and not dwelling on the past.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Fiona,

I have been meaning to let you know that I have read your awesome and inspiring story about returning to Nursing Institute at the age of 40.

Your passion, the extensive hard labor put in to studying and learning and motivation to become a Nurse is amazing and for certain, you have accomplished your Professional Dream and have helped uncountable people in need and are continuing to do so.

Wonderful.

Have lovely wkend,
Margi. Cintrano.

Thank you Margi! It has been fun and I love my job.

 

[Mel!]

After 40, I finally learned to say "No" to my kids. No, I don't have a couple of hundred dollars so you can buy a ticket to a concert where you can't even hear the music. Go to work and earn the money yourself. I need my money for traveling.

I told my 11 year old daughter about this post. She says, I already know too well how to say no. She claims, I need to learn how to say yes to all the things she wants.

I love to travel too, and she has come on a bunch of trips with me, and I am well proud of showing her some of the world. Sometimes, I go alone, when I cant afford to take her too, and she strongly objects to this, even though I provide her with some fun and games with her friends, that costs a less than taking her accross the world. I though, it was a good compensation for her to give her something to do with her friends, because she sometimes says she is bored, when I take her travelling. I am comming to the conclusion that what is available to her is what she will declare boring, and what is not currently available becomes a must have for her.

 

[Mel!]

Fiona,

I have been meaning to let you know that I have read your awesome and inspiring story about returning to Nursing Institute at the age of 40.

Has anyone experienced ageism, when changing careers, when they are over 40? I read, it is an experience that those over 40 have in workplaces, but maybe times are changing, and companies are becomming more openminded? Life experience, hopefully counts for something.

 

[Mel!]

(I put bad first for a reason!).

Id be interested in hearing what folks consider to be the bad of the internet. I am aware of what a good thing it is to have information at your fingertips in your own livingroom is.

I suppose, I am also aware of what the bads of the internet are, as I am a member of a lot of internet sites, and I have been a moderator on a few of them, and worked as an administrator on one of them for a few years, but what is other peoples take on what is bad about the internet. I will post what I think are the bads a bit later.

 

[Steve Kroll]

Has anyone experienced ageism, when changing careers, when they are over 40? I read, it is an experience that those over 40 have in workplaces, but maybe times are changing, and companies are becomming more openminded? Life experience, hopefully counts for something.

No issues where I work. In fact, quite the opposite. I've found my employer to be very welcoming toward employees with... um... "more life experience".

 

[Addie]

Has anyone experienced ageism, when changing careers, when they are over 40? I read, it is an experience that those over 40 have in workplaces, but maybe times are changing, and companies are becoming more open minded? Life experience, hopefully counts for something.

During my working days I was a Professional Temp Worker. After 40, I found that more employees were asking for older workers. Maybe it was my work ethic, but I was offered more permanent positions after 40. I chose not to take them. I liked being a temp worker. I could pick and choose what jobs I would take and which ones I would turn down. I made a big difference in the insurance industry. It was time for the company I was working for to have an audit of their books. I put together a three-ring binder, of all the documents they would require in the order that they would need them. Each auditor received their own binder. They were so impressed that it was decided to make this presentation required for any audit for all future companies.

I also set up a filing system for a pharmaceutical company that is now used world wide throughout the company. Their filing system was in such disarray that it could take you as long as a week to find what you wanted. And these files were for their trials of new drugs. I was horrified. I was originally hired for data entry. When my work got slow, I asked to go into the filing room. I never came out until the job was finished and left the company. That was three years later.

No, I never was the victim of age discrimination. Just the opposite.

 

[Addie]

Id be interested in hearing what folks consider to be the bad of the internet. I am aware of what a good thing it is to have information at your fingertips in your own livingroom is.

I suppose, I am also aware of what the bads of the internet are, as I am a member of a lot of internet sites, and I have been a moderator on a few of them, and worked as an administrator on one of them for a few years, but what is other peoples take on what is bad about the internet. I will post what I think are the bads a bit later.

Identity theft. And yes, it can happen on the internet.

 

[taxlady]

Has anyone experienced ageism, when changing careers, when they are over 40? I read, it is an experience that those over 40 have in workplaces, but maybe times are changing, and companies are becomming more openminded? Life experience, hopefully counts for something.

My husband is a software programmer/systems analyst. He has been experiencing ageism since about the time he turned 40. Job turnover is high in the software world. It's been a pain in the patooty. So, he didn't even need to change career to experience it.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I had more problems with ageism in college and nursing school than I have had in actual jobs. More was expected of me in regular college classes by some instructors and nurses eat their young...not fun. I was EXPECTED to fail in nursing school, made me so mad I came out at the top of my class.

 

[Mel!]

Identity theft. And yes, it can happen on the internet.

Has anyone here experienced this, or know of somebody who has? If so, what did they do with your identity?

I know of one guy who found photos belonging to him, of his friends, on a strangers FaceBook page. The stranger was saying they are his own friends. A very weird and pathetic theft...