Sage Mommies: Turning 40 With Open Arms

I turned 40 on Sunday. Wow.

I've never been the kind of person who stresses about age, but there's something about turning 40 that's making me think. Turning 40 just seems like such a milestone. Something I feel I should stop and take notice of.

Part of me feels like I'm supposed to be freaking out or stressing about it or something. When I walked around Party City getting balloons for my party, most of the 40th birthday items had "Oh No, The Big 4-0" written on them. The only thing running through my mind was how incredibly lame that seemed. I think turning 40 is something to celebrate, not something to be dreaded.

As I sit here a newly Christened 40 year old, I don't feel stressed, I'm not freaking out and I certainly don't feel "Oh No." I feel strong. I feel stronger than I ever have. My thirties were intense. It was a decade of amazing, life changing, blissful and frightening all rolled into one. My thirties saw the birth of my 4 wonderful children, 3 moves, 10 years of marriage to the love of my life, the launch of Sage Spoonfuls and a whole new career for me.

My thirties also saw many personal and professional challenges. The kind of challenges that made me stand up, fight and figure out who I really am. I no longer care what people think of me, I no longer sweat the small stuff, I'm putting myself on my own agenda and I've learned to live life in the moment, because that's all we really have. I've learned that stressing about stuff is useless, I've learned not to freeze when life gets tough, I've learned to put the phone down at dinner. I've learned to turn everything off when I'm with my kids and I've realized the importance of letting my husband know how much I adore him.

I can't turn back time, so I'm going to embrace 40. I earned every year and every year has made it's mark on me. As I enter this new decade of my life, this new chapter of my story, I'm taking what I've learned in my 30's and welcoming 40 with open arms.