17 Things You Stop Giving A Damn About Once You Turn 40

Getting older is actually the best…

Certain things start to matter more as you get older – putting a retirement savings plan in place, being screened for diseases and conditions you’re more prone to with age (hello, yearly mammograms!), and finding an amazing skincare routine to keep crow’s feet at bay.

Other things, though, become far less important once you’ve got a few decades under your belt. By the time you turn 40, you stop caring so much what other people think of you. One of the nice things about getting older is that you know yourself better; you become more comfortable in your own skin. That means if you’ve got something to say, you say it. If you need something, you ask for it. And if you need to make an emergency grocery run, you can run out the door without fixing your makeup or even glancing in the mirror.

As with many things in life, turning 40 feels scary and huge right up until it happens, and then you learn it’s not such a big deal after all. In fact, it’s pretty great. The best thing about it might be not giving a damn about these 17 things any more…

1. Being afraid to speak your mind.

2. Worrying about 37 different possible outcomes before making a decision.

3. How you look when you’re working out.

4. People who gossip about you.

5. Whether your outfit is ‘appropriate’ for your age.

6. Feeling too shy to ask for what you want in bed.

7. If the things you like in bed are weird or not.

8. Hanging out with people who don’t get you.

9. Putting on makeup to run errands.

10. Relationship drama.

11. Spending time with people just to be polite.

12. People who don’t approve of your parenting.

13. Putting everyone else’s needs ahead of your own.

14. Worrying that someone else is ‘better’ than you.

15. Being ‘nice’ all the time.

16. Going to every party so you don’t miss out on anything.

17. And your body not being perfect.

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Comment: What have you stopped worrying about as you get older?