So, I had a birthday this summer. Got me to thinking about the number and it's significance. Turns out 40 is quite a popular number. Here are a few references:1. A time of testing, a period of renewal
2. Completeness
3. Preparation, penance, purification
4. Forty measures of water purify a person
5. Forty days of rain purified the world
6. Moses was purified during 40 days on Mount Sinai
7. Jesus walked the desert and fasted for 40 days
8. It's a symbol of birth, rebirth and change
9. According to the Talmud, it is said that 40 days after conception the soul enters the body
10. Neural activity begins at 40 days for a fetus
This is offered as an opportunity for us all to look at age as a marker, an opportunity of what lies ahead, not what is left behind. Not what's ending, but what's beginning. It feels like a wake up call. There is a certain peace and understanding that comes with reaching this number that I recall experiencing at 20 and 30. With each decade, more understanding, more life is under my belt. I still feel young, like there is so much more to learn.
I wonder if, after 40 years, my soul is completely in my body. There is a feeling of completeness and contentment - not that I'm done living, but that I have everything I need to move forward fully in life.
My goal is to live to be at least 200 years old. And to be vibrant and healthy to serve God's Will the whole time. So, if I'm only 40 - that's still young compared to 200!
It's all perspective baby.
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