Whew! Turning 40 shouldn't be much of a fuss. However I don't think it is a sound idea to consider one's 40th birthday as just any other day as one blogger thinks his day is.
Tradition places a special character on each birthday. The birthday person is actually King or Queen for that day. That's why birthday boys and girls receive presents and special prayers.
Now 40th birthdays are even more special. After all it is really the midpoint of human life. Life expectancy now ranges from 75-80 years so 40 is really the midpoint. Indeed it is high summer of life.
And what are summers made of? In higher latitudes, trees are in full leaf, sheltering birds and other small mammals. Some trees are in full bloom. At high summer, Autumn and winter seem far away. The sun is at its zenith.
There is truth to the belief that upon reaching 40, people are at their peak. While mental faculties peak in one's thirties, the full impact of these faculties only become apparent when you reach 40 unless you are a hidebound geek who blogs or a mathematician.
That's why artists reach their creative zenith in their 40s. Literary artists even peak a bit later in their late 40s. We did not see Rizal's literary peak since he was executed in his 30s. But Rizal's contemporary, Tagore, did peak in his 40s.
The problem is because of denial, we downgrade the importance of a 40th birthday. We bring autumn a bit early.
We did not even allow the trees to shade us in summer's glory.
And some people don't even reach summer at all.
Tradition places a special character on each birthday. The birthday person is actually King or Queen for that day. That's why birthday boys and girls receive presents and special prayers.
Now 40th birthdays are even more special. After all it is really the midpoint of human life. Life expectancy now ranges from 75-80 years so 40 is really the midpoint. Indeed it is high summer of life.
And what are summers made of? In higher latitudes, trees are in full leaf, sheltering birds and other small mammals. Some trees are in full bloom. At high summer, Autumn and winter seem far away. The sun is at its zenith.
There is truth to the belief that upon reaching 40, people are at their peak. While mental faculties peak in one's thirties, the full impact of these faculties only become apparent when you reach 40 unless you are a hidebound geek who blogs or a mathematician.
That's why artists reach their creative zenith in their 40s. Literary artists even peak a bit later in their late 40s. We did not see Rizal's literary peak since he was executed in his 30s. But Rizal's contemporary, Tagore, did peak in his 40s.
The problem is because of denial, we downgrade the importance of a 40th birthday. We bring autumn a bit early.
We did not even allow the trees to shade us in summer's glory.
And some people don't even reach summer at all.
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