The Last Quarter of My Fortieth Year

And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.
Steve Jobs

Last year, at this time, with a milestone birthday looming, I was surprised not to feel any different. The thirty ninth year passed, smoothly, on the track of comfortable routine. The first three quarters of the fortieth year carried the same rythm as the year preceding it: I pink-taxied with good will and enthusiasm, attended my sports and arts activities with stride, studied and read attentively.

Then September came. I felt the summer air change under the cedars in my favorite park in Geneva and I tasted the melancholy of the native Genevois, Jean Jacques Rousseau. Perhaps, I sensed that time was fleeting, that summers did end and the children's academic year loomed ahead. I left for Dubai.

I started off slowly....I didn't over-book my kids or myself. We focused on our priorities, which are swimming and golf for the kids, and pilates and golf for myself. But gradually we added the indispensable ballet, yoga, judo, aikido, violin, climbing, squash, Arabic lessons. Who doesn't want to go ice skating or to the beach? The art galleries attracted us, the auctions, the parties. I went back to circuit training and my whole lifestyle became akin to a circuit: wake up almost at dawn, run, run, run, till late at night, when I fit my blogging and reading.

Now, the routine became an energizer. I frequently skipped my savasna-naps. I preferred to babysit my nephew or spend quality time with loved ones. I always appreciated music, but now music became an obsession. With my musical ears tuned in, I began to see the world in techni-colour. It was an Avatar like experience. I walked a different stride. I wore lipstick and mascara daily. I became hyper-aware of everything around me. My blog entries became more whimsical.

I could easily say that Dubai's ambiance has intensified this degree of energy. But I travelled to Lebanon and found good karma there even though I was visiting for a sad circumstance.

In November, the month of my birth, my energy levels dwindled by a fraction and I recognized my dire need for a rest. We travelled to Geneva, wondering why we were leaving when the Dubai weather was at its best. Geneva's Indian Summer took me by surprise and energized me further.
Thus, the last quarter of my fortieth year became a turning point. The moral of the story is that milestones can never be timed! At the prime age of 41,  I came up with an adage:

Live your life. Live by your own philosophy.

Every moment is an event!