It’s Official, I’ve Hit the Big 4–0

Here’s hoping I am not quite yet to middle age…

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

There’s nothing quite like hitting a milestone year to make you analyze your life.

So here it is…

The last two years I’ve seemed to accomplish more than I have in the previous 38, but in reality life has just been building up to this point.

Just like knowledge accumulates over the years, so do life lessons and perspectives.

The first 4 months of the year were among the craziest in my life! I started a job after leaving the company I had been for the previous 7 years. I got married. Offered a new job while on my honeymoon, which I accepted which gave me the honeymoon + 2 weeks without work. Came back from my honeymoon and got covid. Spent the 2 weeks recovering while still maintaining a few job interviews. After a month at my new new job I received two more job offers and had to make what was otherwise a very difficult life decision to determine which direction my life (and my family) would go.

And then my wife found out she’s pregnant — we’re expecting a son in late October! It’ll be at least a year before I’ll even ask if she’s interested in another child (I’ve always wanted 2 to 3, and when we discussed it before the wedding she said she wanted 2 kids).

38 Year Build Up

But why were the last 2 years the most accomplished?

I’ve dated over the years to learn what I didn’t want in a relationship only to find the love of my life and finally get married.

I focused heavily on my career to gain experience and skills that would allow me to transition to multiple jobs until I was finally paid what I was worth.

I steadily saved money and kept debts purposefully low for two decades so that I would be in the position to be able to afford the car I have wanted for years and also have some money sacked away to pay for the wedding and also save up for my first child. I also did an analysis (prior to the recent stock market drop, anyway) of my assets and debts and my net worth was higher than expected. So that was icing on the cake.

All of the pain and anguish, sacrifice and strife over the last couple of decades has led up to this point.

There’s no telling what the next 40 years will bring…