There is a lot of pressure these days to be “forever young” and we’ve all heard the endless jokes about being “over the hill.” But despite all the pressure and jokes, the process of getting older isn’t that bad. It all depends on how you choose to look at it. Sure, your body might not be able to do all it used to, but you can still be young at heart!
We have the phrase “40 is the new 30” to mean that turning 40 isn’t that old – especially when compared to what it meant in times past. However, that doesn’t mean the stigma is completely gone. Far from it! Luckily, some 40-year-olds are fighting that stigma by making hilarious posts about what it’s like being 40. How funny can they be? Check out the following 34 posts to find out!
How every 40-year-old guy takes a selfie!
Have you ever noticed the way men over 40 post pictures on social media? They’re so similar it makes you wonder if they meet up at a secret conference somewhere and decide on how to take an appropriate profile pic. If so, here’s what they found:
Do you recognize any of the 40-year-olds you know in the cat selfies above? It’s funny how well they pinned it down. Seems like these four angles pretty much sum up the selfie options. Great work cats!
Young in the soul, but old in the body
“Life begins at … (insert age here).” How many times do we hear that when we feel sad from getting older? Maybe it’s true that life begins at 40, but that life brings some complications with it too!
You may have a young soul ready to tackle the world, but your body might have missed the memo! You might not be held back by a lack of confidence or a bad attitude, but bad eyesight, achy bones, and memory loss might slow you down a bit.
40s is the new … tornado?
Time seems to be speeding up more and more. Today’s 18-year-olds were born in 2003! If you find that hard to believe, we might have some rough news for you. Those born in the early 1980s are approaching their 40s!
We’re in a new decade and the 2010s are long gone. Likewise, those born in the 1980s are approaching their 40s. Should you be scared? We don’t think so – at least not as scared as you might be when you’re that close to a tornado!
A pain in the back
Turning 40 can mean that you feel a lot of things that you didn’t feel before. This is especially true if you don’t keep up healthy exercise routines to build strength and flexibility. This Twitter post sums it up pretty well:
Often people try to sweep that under the rug, right? Yes, you’ll probably have more aches and pains in your 40s, but at least you won’t be alone. People in their 20s are starting to complain about back pain and other aches as well!
The simple joys of being 40
This next post looks at some of the positive changes that happen after turning 40. When people are younger, they’re often too busy and focused on future goals to pause and appreciate the smaller things in life.
Growing into your 40s means appreciating things you once took for granted by focusing on all the small things that happen around you. If you can find joy in a simple sponge, then there are lots of simple joys you can be ready to soak up!
Dating: not easy, but not impossible either!
Dating in your 40s can be a bit trickier than it was in your 20s and 30s. People have had more life experiences (both positive and negative) and can have kids and careers to look after. Also, many haven’t dated for a while and can be unfamiliar with it.
We suggest taking this tweet with a grain of salt. Although dating in your 40s might be harder than earlier years, it doesn’t have to be as bad as riding a bike on fire! By keeping an open mind and heart, you’re sure to find love.
Yoda, wisdom you provide
This next meme has a great way of reminding us that growing older doesn’t have to be a problem. It’s natural! After birth and childhood, we grow into adulthood. Along the way, we become like Yoda – wiser and wiser!
If 72 years is the average life span, then 40 is barely over the halfway mark. Don’t fret as there’s still plenty to do and learn. Get out there and live the best life you can – you’ll get wiser along the way!
That’s right Gandolf!
Although life might not feel brand new, life after 40 can bring about a lot of positive change. For example, were you incredibly shy in your 20s and 30s? Most likely you won’t have that after 40 and this can lead to a new beginning – just as Gandolf says!
If you put aside some of the bodily aches and pains we looked at above, a lot of good things can come during your 40s. For example, with a bit more stability in your life, you might have time to try new things!
Hangovers get much worse
You might remember what it was like to be hungover at 21. Maybe you didn’t feel perfect, but the hangover was probably manageable with a few naps and a lot of water. Right?
Now comes the bad news: a hangover at 40 is nothing like a hangover at 21! Instead of feeling a bit off or lazy, you might feel like you need a doctor. Unfortunately, that’s just the way it is.
Your embarrassing moments are safe
Everything is fair game for the internet nowadays and kids love to share. With so many posts being made every day, it’s impossible to control what others say. That means all your embarrassing moments are probably going to be posted online! Yikes.
Luckily, that’s something that 40-year-olds don’t have to worry about because their childhood happened long before the rise of social media! For many 40-year-olds, only them and a few others know about their embarrassing moments – not the whole internet!
You’ve got great eyesight …for your age
Lots of things happen to you after your 40th birthday. As we saw from the posts above, your body can ache a bit more and dating can be trickier. We left out one more thing, which is about how people treat you.
That’s right! People will still give you compliments, but they’ll add “for your age” to the end. So if you can see far, you’ll have great eyesight … for your age. Or if you’ve got a great sense of humor, you’ll be funny … for your age.
Years of experience
Although there’s nothing wrong with getting older, it can take a while to get used to it. If you feel like you are uncomfortable with the fact that you can’t do the same things you did before turning 40, this post puts a positive spin on it:
Keep this tweet in mind wherever someone asks you your age. Are you 40? No, I’m 18 with 22 years of experience! As you get more and more comfortable with being 40 though, you won’t need to rely on such a clever answer.
Should I stay or should I go?
As we age, our bladder often gets weaker and this makes us go to the bathroom more often. It gets harder to hold it in. Mix that with an increased love of comfort and soon we find ourselves in an uncomfortable dilemma.
If you know what Homer is talking about, then you’re probably in or approaching your 40s. Who wants to get out of bed and pee when it’s nice and comfy beneath the blankets? Especially not when it’s cold out or you’re exhausted after work.
Aging advice from Al
Do you remember Al Bundy from the TV show Married with Children? If so, you’re probably in your 40s and maybe some advice from Al could help. Luckily, Bundy has his own Facebook fan page and one of the followers posted this piece of helpful advice:
Thanks, Al. After two posts about bladder problems after 40, we think you get the idea. Rest assured that you’re not alone in having to pee multiple times a day – over 20 million Americans deal with the same thing!
Everybody hurts … when sleeping?
Our bodies tend to get weaker as we age, so we need to be a bit more careful in what we do to avoid injury. Even with great precaution, it can be hard to avoid all pain. Sometimes this even affects your sleep as the tweet below shows.
Now maybe this tweet should come with a warning sign that lets the reader know a high level of irony was used. Many 40-year-olds can be quite ironic and sarcastic in their tweets. Is it an effect of aging as well?
The math isn’t fair!
Younger people often have a fast metabolism that allows them to eat and eat and eat without gaining a pound. Not so much when you reach your 40s. Metabolism slows down and soon it becomes harder to lose even a little bit of weight.
This is it in a nutshell (hopefully a healthy nutshell). As your metabolism slows, so does your ability to lose weight. Unfortunately, the opposite is also true: gaining weight becomes the easiest thing in the world!
The work isn’t over
Sometimes aging hits us with a lot of hard truths. We have responsibilities we need to carry out even when our bodies don’t want to behave. This next post gets at one harsh truth you have to face when turning 40.
When we’re in our 40s, standing for hours at a time isn’t as easy as it was in our 20s and 30s. Unfortunately, most people are unable to retire in their 40s, so they still have many years in their working lives. Harsh but true.
Sleep is the best medicine!
Having a set sleep pattern is one of the best things we can do for our health. However, we often find ways to mess it up by having one too many coffees or watching one too many shows. Those habits can take a toll in your 40s.
The message is clear: stay awake late at your own peril! Many people love to relax at night by watching their favorite TV shows, but watching that one last episode can make the next morning much more difficult. Don’t forget: sleep is the best medicine!
Pills for every day of the week
Maybe you remember going over to your grandparent’s house as a kid and seeing all those pills laid out in a clear box. It might have seemed weird at the time, like something only those in their 70s do. However, as the next post shows, the pill organizer often becomes a part of life way before that!
To put a positive on it – you’ll get to have your own pill organizer and it is keeping you healthy! As Kevin suggests in his tweet, maybe it could be part of your 40th birthday present. Why not?
We know what we like and dislike
As we grow older, we become more aware of exactly what we like and what we dislike. In our 30s, we might start building up a keen sense of what we find annoying. By 40, we’ve seen enough.
As Sonja comically tweeted, being awake for 30 minutes can already start to get annoying when we’re in our 40s. Within that short half-hour, we might have already seen enough things we dislike. Hopefully, that gets balanced out with a dose of irony.
A little bedside snack anyone?
The next tweet can be taken in a few different ways. Some see it as an ironic way to poke fun at those in their 40s. Others see it as a bad idea because snacks are unhealthy. For us, we take it with a grain of salt (or a bite of Oreos!)
Imagine being able to stay in bed and have your favorite snacks within arms reach? Count us in! The best part is that no one is going to say anything about your secret snack drawer because you’re 40!
Watch out for heartburn!
If you haven’t had to deal with any digestive issues or feelings of pain after eating, it’s best to count your blessings. As you turn 40 though, your luck might change as heartburn becomes more common.
Unfortunately, as Dan Sommers tweets, you’re more likely to get heartburn as you grow older. That’s just how life is for many people in their 40s. However, there are some helpful ways to avoid the worst of it. For example, eating healthy and exercising!
New conversations grow
People talk about different things at different stages of life. As a kid, you might have chatted about video games. As a teenager, maybe it was all about hanging with friends. In your 20s and 30s, paying the bills. Around 40, it might change again.
Gardening becomes the thing you focus on! That and other parts of domestic life. Your 40s mean inviting friends over to chat while working in the vegetable garden. Hopefully, to cook up some of those delicious veggies too!
Embrace your new way of talking
Something dawns on you when you turn 40: you can’t understand a word younger people say! Even if you keep up with the latest pop culture trends, your way of speaking (or lack of slang) will soon reveal how old you are.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Sometimes the reason 40-year-olds can’t connect with those in their 20s is that those in their 20s can get lost in trivial things. If you’re feeling down about aging, spend some with those younger than you – you’ll feel great in no time!
The decades fly by!
Do you remember turning 18? Didn’t it seem like it wasn’t that long ago? “Weren’t most people born in the 1980s?” you might say to yourself. Although it might be hard to believe, the year 1980 was over four decades ago!
To be fair, many of us are having the same feeling. Time seems to fly by as the world moves at a faster and faster pace. It seems like one day we’re watching 90s cartoons and the next, we’re adults with mortgages!
These prices rug me the wrong way
As many of the previous posts show, as you grow into your 40s, new interests can develop. If you never had time to sit down with a good book, now you find yourself doing just that. Did you ever have an interest in rugs? You just might if you’re turning 40!
Alongside domestic things like gardening, home decorations become more interesting in your 40s. Rather than a boring chore, you can find pleasure in searching the internet or browsing a store to find that perfect rug. The only problem is – rugs are expensive!
The walk of shame changes
Are you familiar with the phrase “walk of shame?” If so, you know it’s tied to dating. As we pointed out before, dating in your 40s can be a bit difficult. However, one thing gets a bit easier – no more walks of shame!
Well, no more walks of shame in the way we commonly use that phrase. As Henpecked Hal shows, the meaning of that phrase changes completely. In your 40s, it has to do with being judged by your neighbors for leaving the trash cans out for too long!
40 isn’t that old!
Some jokes you have to earn the right to say. In this case, if you’ve turned 40, you have earned that right. Saying it before turning 40 can sometimes be a bit offensive. This next picture is a perfect example of such a joke. Here it is.
Someone cleverly edited this street sign a bit. Originally, the sign was to ask drivers to slow down to make the road safer for elderly people. However, someone changed it to mean that whoever is 40 is in the elderly group!
I’ll get right on it ... after my nap
We all know the stereotypes from family jokes and movies. The older person is drifting off to sleep before the sun goes down. Although some older people are still night owls, many others fall asleep early and value their rest more.
Which is great – who doesn’t love naps! Although it’s true that some 40-year-olds love being active and playing sports, many others appreciate their afternoon naps. After that, they’re ready to take on the world … well, maybe after a second nap!
A change in hobbies!
Like leaves turning orange in the fall, hobbies change as we age. What we spent time doing in our 20s isn’t what we want to do in our 40s. Sometimes it’s because our interests have changed, other times it’s because our bodies can’t keep up.
This change is perfectly captured by this tweet from Ken Jennings. His 20s and 30s were a mix of outdoor adventures (hiking and traveling) and indoor activities (board games and paintings). His 40s, by change, are all about annoying his daughter!
Looking for something you already have
As you grow older, your memory might start to falter and your focus might decline. It’s only natural. Sure, it changes from person to person, but many of us can relate to being distracted when doing something simple. For example:
Have you ever done something like that? As Lisa Jakub wrote, it happens more often than you think – especially in your 40s! You can get distracted by simple things and forget that the bag of groceries was with you all along.
Watch out for your back!
Since there is so much stigma around changes that happen when you grow older, it can be difficult to find people who are at peace with it. Many find it hard to accept, so they end up doing dangerous things to prove to themselves that they aren’t getting older.
Annie the Nanny captured this feeling perfectly! People in their 40s might try to show that they aren’t getting older by wearing younger people’s clothes or by showing they’re carefree. That is okay, but just make sure you watch out for your back!
Finally, I can clean the house!
Chores are never high up on your list when you’re young. Not many teenagers look forward to doing them. However, as you reach your 40s and other priorities start to take over, chores become a much more enjoyable part of them – something you look forward to!
Most people like to have a house that looks nice and is taken care of, but not many 20-year-olds go the extra step of making it that way. When you’re 40, however, summer break sounds like a perfect time to organize that garage!
I want all the dogs!
Many people are familiar with the “crazy cat lady” stereotype – older, single women who have dozens of cats. Were you also aware that some people give a home to dozens of dogs? Especially as your 40s roll around!
Many 40-year-olds have pre-teen or teenage kids. Gone are the days when you can easily pick them up for a cuddle or hug – especially the teens who often want to avoid that as much as possible. So instead, many people start adopting something they can pick up and cuddle – dogs!