Just   to recap:

– Are we going to live longer than the previous generation? Check

– Do we have diagnostic and preventive medicine in our favor? Check

– Are the forties of today different from the forties of decades ago? Check

So, repeat with me: we can do anything at forty. It may be before, or after, what matters: the age we are today is not an impediment to anything.

I started surfing when I was 40. Okay, I don’t surf any mega wave in Hawaii or Nazare, but I stand up and do a good job, catching the wave alone.

When I was in my 30s (not 39, but 32.33 …) I was at the beach with some friends, and I wanted to learn to surf. My friends demotivated me: “hey, we are already old and lazy to start practicing this sport”. It ended there. Jump for another 7 years. I met my friend at an expat event. She had also started to surf and set up a surf group. I took my first wave in the North Coast, very frightened because after all, i am afraid of the sea, but I surfed. And then I never stopped. In the surf group, where I do it, there is a 70 year old man, a 65 year old woman.

What’s your excuse?

I am no wonder woman. I have my belly and 1.55 in height (ok, 1.53)

And I started surfing at 40. And I jumped on a parachute at 38. And I’m planning a world tour alone, when I’m 55. And I learned to cook decently at 33.

There are people who have done a lot more than me at a younger age. Okay, better late than never.

There is a friend of mine from the heart who gives up all this to stay under the covers watching NetFlix. Ok too, each with their own pleasure.

What I mean is that you can do anything now. We have more health, and less prejudice from society (there is still a long way to go, but it has improved).

One thing I like to see is that women are moving and learning new things every time. In my social network, there is a sailing woman, entrepreneur, mother, marathon runner, novelist and so on.

Not that our bodies doesn’t complain at times. I love my walks, but I already know that after about 2 hours I need to pause for a cup of coffee (or a beer, hehehe). If I stay 3 days sleeping only 4 hours a day, there will be a day that I will have to sleep 14 hours to compensate. But it’s okay.

One more thing: I started traveling to single people resorts (ie, flirting and making out) after 30. It’s not the Hedonist, the one where people have sex in the middle of the pool in the daylight, but resorts aimed at singles and parties. Maybe I didn’t go before because I didn’t know it, because I had a prejudice against it (even because at 30 I was still a bit of a old lady judgment person). This does not mean i have to go  there to pick up the boys. But I like to have that option.

There was a day that I stayed in the room all day alone, enjoying my air conditioning because it was smoking hot outside (not the boys, the weather). There was another season where I didn’t meet any boys, but I made countless friendships, because I was simply in a panda mood (with no desire for casual conexions).

My first big trip was at the age of 28, and then I never stopped.

What about business? Want an example of people who started later and rocked? I give you several:

– Writer J.K.Rowling, famous for Harry Potter books, was a single mother living on government aid and suicidal at 28

The writer and presenter Julia Child (see Julia & Julia Movie), inspired by her, published her first cooking book at 49,

– Super designer Vera Wang, one of the darlings of Hollywood actresses, designed her first dress at 40,

– Director Kathryn Bigelow made her first hit movie at 57.

How about summarizing your life so far and thinking about what you could do going forward?