h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Noticed your appeal for advice. 40 is great,(I'm 43) so if your hurtling is being done on a motorcycle, you should have lots of bugs between your teeth. (Sorry! Old joke, but still irresistible.)
When one of my students was approaching 30, she had me write her a letter telling what I had learned in my 30's. She said I could comment on anything from hair styles I'd tried to what was my passion and motivation in that decade. It was such fun to write a little review of that part of my life, that I promptly rounded up a couple dozen female friends aged late 40's and up and collected a book of their wisdom for my 40's.(I gave them all pretty note cards to write on. Some returned the cards, and some used their own stationary. It makes for a nice scrap book.) Made a year long party of it really, and learned all sorts of worthwhile things about my friends that I hadn't known. I thought about including some men, but decided that 40 for a guy is not the same thing at all, and besides, the male friends I mentioned this too didn't look too captivated with the idea. I, however, highly recommend the exercise.
Of course, I joined H2G2 to celebrate my 42nd. What else could I do?
Best to you and the kitties.

Thank you for the advice. They say life begins at 40 so it shouldn't be too dreadful!
I've felt happier in my 30's than my 20's and teens.
Got a few months to go yet but it would be good to make it a memorable year.

I find my happiness is now much less dependant on external circumstances. Told a friend (age 47) yesterday that I wouldn't go back a day before 35 unless I could take my wisdom with me, and she agreed. Of course, on the flip side, 35 is about where the knees got creaky. Guess we can't have it all at once or we wouldn't know where to put it.