Boy Meets 40

8/12/2025 7:12 PM

Listening to: "Broken" by Bad Religion

I'll start by saying I have no idea what happened during these past several months, but it has been way too long since I've written for you all! My most sincere apologies! Things have been good, or dare I say great! But that I'll save that for another time. Because today, I am here to write about the big 4-0! That's right, I am now 40! (Full disclosure, I have been for 15 days now)

Camping at Punderson State Park

So, let's talk about what I think was my best birthday ever! For starters, I was influenced by someone very close to me to make my birthday public on Facebook. For nearly my entire life, at least while social media has existed, I've kept my birthday private so I wasn't flooded with birthday greetings every year. I always thought that the people that knew my birthday would reach out and that's all that mattered. But I have to say, it really made my day better to hear from people that I haven't heard from in years. While many clicked the auto-generated message that Facebook suggests, a handful of people reached out directly. Some of those conversations really made my day! I have no regrets, and if you're someone that reached out in any capacity, thank you!

My birthday, however, was so much more than what happened on social media. (We'd hope so, right?!) With some of my most important people going out of town, and others having other obligations, I was so fotunate to have a whole smattering of birthday events. This included one-on-one time with some of my favorite people as well as a thing or two in a group setting. The highlights for me? Getting rained out at the Asian Lantern Festival (this isn't sarcasm, I wouldn't trade it for anything), being terribly lousy at pool, eating gigantic slices of pizza at a place that is quietly becoming the "birthday spot," countless thoughtful & meaningful gifts, lunch with my mom, bowling with close friends/family, camping, and a couple more dinners. Okay! You caught me; I basically consider everything a highlight, but those close to me know which of these moments were extra special! I've just never felt so much love for my birthday before, and I am so grateful.

As with every birthday, I spent a lot of time reflecting on the past year and beyond. These last two years have been some of the most transformative for me, and it's truly remarkable to think about where I came from and where I am now. Many folks tend to enter "mid-life crisis" mode around this time, but I'm feeling overwhelmingly optimistic and proud of this place I find myself at 40. I keep thinking about the "over the hill" metaphor, which I think usually carries a negative conotation. But, as I've shared with some of my friends, I feel like I've put in so much hard work getting up this hill over the past 40 years (especially the last couple), and now that I'm over it, I'm ready to enjoy the culmination of that hard work. Somehow, everything in my life seems to be lining up better than I could have ever imagined. Whether we're talking about my kids, job, friends, music, love life, etc., gosh, I just wouldn't change a thing.

So, yeah! 40 feels good! And I'm so ready for what's ahead!