I am 40!!!

I am 40! Forget the 40 is the new 30 and all that! I am 40! I proclaim it with joy and pride! I'm grateful to have been able to live to this beautiful age. Much more than a number, I have been blessed  with transformational experiences, memories, good health, a loving and supportive circle of friends and familia. I'm so excited to celebrate this special point in my life, where I am now, where I've been and enjoy it all. 

My Mama called me this morning, waiting the three hour time difference between New York and Cali, to talk to me. She's always so excited to be the first to call and wish me a happy birthday. She reminisced about the two days of labor to have me and how she felt when she first laid eyes on me, a head full of dark hair and pink complexion. My Dad reminded me about my 18th birthday celebration when we all went to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Long Island, before I moved to Cali. Talk about foreshadowing, huh? They still have the cute birthday sombrero that was my souvenir that night. I told them that tonight I'm stepping it up. Going to Mexico for dinner! They said be sure to get a sombrero to add to the collection. 

It's sweet and tender to share these moments from the past. We all look back at pictures and reflect on times past. It's all fun as long as we don't stay there; stuck in the past. I love thinking of those special times but I also want to be here. Now. Where I am in my life is something to be celebrated. I'm learning and becoming more of myself. My true self continues to reveal itself to me. Many layers have been and continue to be shed. It's a process and I'm working on it. Steadily, working on myself and I'm blessed to be able to do that. 

Frank woke me up with birthday wishes, kisses and Nutella french toast, oh my!!! Straight to the heart with my fave, chocolate. How blessed am I? I fell asleep last night thinking, when I wake up tomorrow, I'll be 40! I woke up with the excitement of a sneaky kid, ready to pounce on the gifts under the tree on Christmas morning. It's so awesome to celebrate my birthday, receive all of the love, messages, texts. I love it! 

What does 40 feel like? It feels so amazing! I feel like a goddess, a woman pleased to be in her own skin. I own it, my femininity, with confidence, sass and swag. This is the best I've ever been. People comment on how young I look. "Your kids are 20 and 17?! How old are you? Wow, you look so young!" This is 40!!

Looking and feeling youthful, being young in spirit, radiating love from the inside out comes from being yourself. Honoring and loving yourself is the key. Taking good care of yourself, your body and spirit. Doing what you love, tapping into your creativity, expressing that creativity and unique talents and gifts to better serve the world is what it's about. Taking what life has to offer and growing it exponentially. Trusting that the Universe and God are by your side every step of the way. Enjoying and accepting all the beauty and grace in life. These things are the reason that I feel so blessed and celebratory!

It's much more than just an age, a number, a set of years. We age, we grow, we die. Rather than growing "old" or feeling like "aging" is a bad word, I celebrate and recognize the privilege of being alive, maturing and living life at any age that I am. Being here and being blessed with this life is a reason to celebrate. The cake and candles are fun, they're symbols of that, but, being happy and fulfilled because I'm becoming the best version of myself is the icing.  

I love this clip from Christiane Northrup,  author of Goddesses Never Age,The Secret Prescription for Radiance, Vitality and Well-Being. In an interview with Oprah on Super Soul Sunday, she talks about changing the way that we celebrate our birthdays. I think she's a wonderful leader and teacher for our generation and is changing our views on what it means to age. 

[Instead, Northrup believes a birthday should be about recognizing your triumphs. "You celebrate everything that you've accomplished or that you're proud of in the past year so that you have really a celebration of your worth and your increased competence," she says. "That's a cool thing."]

Enjoy the clip. Tonight, I will be celebrating with my beloved little family, having a delicious, authentic Mexican dinner and toasting with margaritas; on the rocks, salted rim, fresh limes. Oh yeah!

Cheers and Love

Karla