Forty Year Reflection

As I take this road into my forties, I sit back and reflect on life. I have experienced life lessons, belly laughs, and painful tears. Celebrating my fortieth morning at Twisted Sage yesterday, I felt it only appropriate to share this meditative moment with you. This birthday has brought me to a place where I can look back on the lessons I've learned and be grateful that there was a lesson I learned. The lessons weren't always happy moments, but they all taught me to be a better person. I can recall many full belly laughs that brought joyful tears to my eyes and induced fits of coughing. I've shared moments like this with friends and family. However, I have experienced more loss than I would ever want for a woman my age. The hardest part of celebrating a milestone birthday for me was the absence of my daddy. Without him here to tell me how proud he is of me, I find that I am missing a piece of my heart. That is not to say that I don't fully appreciate the wonderful people who are here to tell me, but it is not the same. I am proud that I can now remember my daddy and often cry about it, but I can also know that he is watching over me and so proud of the woman, wife, and daughter I have become in my forty years here. I hope to have many more years to share with all of you. There isn't a moment of my forty years that I would change. I have been blessed by all of those that have touched my life. So let me say, "thank you." "Thank you for believing in me, thank you for sharing a piece of yourself with me, and most of all, thank you for loving me just the way that I am.

Hugs,
Jenni