40 before forty – the journey starts

I’m a 39-year old single girl living in beautiful Jozi – mom to my gorgeous pup, Chuckles; daughter; sister; aunty to my precious niece, Abi; friend; listener; encourager; adventurer; runner (which may be a flattering term for what I do); lawyer, mountain climber; champagne drinker and generally someone who welcomes a challenge, and goes out to disprove stereotypes and beat the odds.

In six short months’ time, I’ll be turning 40 – which has me filled with much trepidation and anxiety, on the one hand, wondering is this the end? Not just the end of my 30s, but the end of some family life choices, and the end of being regarded as still being relatively young and adventurous? On, the other hand, the anxiety has been coupled with some nervous excitement – maybe it’s just the beginning? Beginning of my 40s, and a time to live with meaning, passion and to find hope along the way? Given the trepidation and anxiety, however, I decided to make sure that I live these next six months deliberately, and that I don’t just float my way through them – only to look back and wonder how quickly the big four-oh arrived and what exactly I had done to welcome it in!

So, I decided to compile a list of 40 things I’d like to do in the next six months – a type of bucket list if you like – and asked my family and friends for help by giving suggestions of what I should put on my list. I only provided a few guidelines – they should be things that challenge me, make me smile, create memories… nothing financially extravagant – so they should at least be somewhat realistic.  

I received far more than 40 suggestions – but have now managed to pare it down to 40 (which shall be revealed in my first post).  And why am I blogging about this? Well one of my “40 before forty” items is to finally start blogging, which I’ve been threatening to do for years. So this blog will follow my 40 before forty journey – thanks for being part of my journey, and contributing your ideas! I’m super excited for the next six months and I’m looking forward to sharing it with you.