Blaise Tapp: Turning 40 is the start of a whole new exciting chapter
When Prince Harry reflected on last weekend’s big birthday, he talked of his excitement about reaching his 40s and, inadvertently, spoke for a generation.
Ahead of his big day, the Duke of Sussex reflected on how he’d felt anxious about entering his 30s but that he saw his fifth decade as a completely different ball game. Harry is absolutely right, entering your 40s really are worth getting excited about.
There was a time not all that long ago, when Ceefax and ashtrays in cars were still a thing, that those reaching 40 were commiserated by friends and presented with mugs and balloons, emblazoned with the words ‘over the hill’. Times have changed and, these days, 40 somethings are embracing the beginning of middle age in a way that their forebears could only dream of.
Although our personal circumstances couldn't be more different, I too experienced similar feelings of anxiety to the fifth in line to throne on entering my 30s, simply because I wasn’t ready to grow up. In my 20s, life was relatively straightforward because things were on an upward trajectory and raucous fun was allowed. Late nights and even later mornings weren’t frowned upon, because that’s what people do when they are young. I wasn’t prepared for the shift in gears that occur when you enter your 30s, an age when society expects you to behave like an adult, even though most of us aren’t ready for it.
It seems ridiculous now but I didn’t feel young any more and didn’t really know how proper grown ups should behave; almost overnight I went from discussing the strength of lager I was consuming in large quantities of a weekend to droning on about the mpg of our people carrier. I felt a bit lost.
These days, I have much more of an idea about who I am and don’t care a jot whether people might laugh at the shirt I wear on a night out as I’m much more comfortable in my own skin. In your 40s, other people are more inclined to ask for your advice and these days, very little shocks me because I’ve seen most things at least once.
This also means that from 40 onwards, people are allowed to reminisce about their childhoods like they were a bygone age as it was quite a long time ago.
There are a few drawbacks mind you – my knees still ache from dancing at a festival three weeks ago – but the very many benefits of this golden decade are well worth it.