This Is 45

I seldom write about myself. That's on purpose. Sure, I am pretty social and outgoing but I'm actually a pretty private person too. I don't like to overshare, I like my space and I really relish my own alone time. I've been like that since I was a kid. (By the way, I have a kid who is the same way and her name is Peyton). Anyway, after my last post about love and loss, I've been thinking a lot about my birthday on Friday. I'll be 45. God willing, I've probably lived about half of my life already. And maybe I could pass for 5 or even 10 years younger than how old I really am (say some) but somehow this year leading up to 45, I've made some pretty significant changes in my life.

My 20s were so much fun. Living in the city and hanging out with my friends. Getting my career off the ground. My 30s were all about getting married, buying houses, having babies and climbing the corporate ladder. By 40, I was ready to make some big changes in my life including staying home and throwing myself into volunteering - whether through school, by coaching or managing a sports team or for a philanthropic organization in my community.

This year, I think unconsciously at first, I decided to make some further changes to things in my life that impacted me directly. So starting in April, I hired a nutritionist to change the way that I ate. We don't count calories, we count macros which is protein, fat and carbs. This isn't a diet. This is developing a healthier eating lifestyle. It doesn't mean I'm never going to have a beer or a glass of wine or a piece of cake. I just know now how to work that in. And, for the first time in a very long time, like maybe before college, I weigh less than what's on my drivers license which I changed and still lied about at age 30. Ha!

The second thing I embarked on this year was Invisalign. I started to feel more and more self conscious about my teeth. My front teeth had separated years after having braces and because I never wanted to have to go through braces again I had my front teeth bonded together so you wouldn't notice the gap. Of course, 20 plus years later, the bonding started to deteriorate and I started to have nightmares (literally) about the baby tooth that I still have and never fell out, finally doing so on a really important day. It was time to get it all taken care of and stop avoiding the inevitable. So in July, I started my Invisalign treatment which will be followed by an implant replacing my baby tooth (that's still hanging in there - no pun intended - after 44 plus years!). 

The last thing I did happened just last week. I've worn glasses since 6th grade and contacts since 9th. Both my brothers have had Lasik eye surgery and wondered why I never did. It just wasn't important to me then. But this year I had been thinking about it more and more. Again, something was pushing me to just do it. So I went for my consultation on Tuesday and on Wednesday I had the surgery. It's been a week and it feels so odd after 30 plus years not to reach for my contact case in the morning. Okay, truth is I have reached for it once. But so far I'm impressed with the results (recovery time is still one month as your vision keeps improving every day). But it was easy, virtually painless and life changing. Why did I wait so long?!

So this is 45. You can call it my midlife crisis. Who knows maybe I'll be driving a Porsche soon too...