Sorting out our Priorities in 40s

Priorities contain the intensity to shuffle in every turn in a woman’s lifetime. Notably, as soon as we stride through the threshold of the fourth decade of our life, we ought to fasten our seat belts and set our priorities straight. Prior to this era, our lives were somehow sorted and we were aware of how to give in to the status quo. Tradition and society have decided beforehand what our priorities would be till here.

But now, our kids are grown, our home is perfect and family life is sorted. In the nutshell, all the major adjustments to be made are done. We fought a battle following the basic route, got educated, married and entered motherhood. During the journey, we lost our youth, sacrificed health and ignored knowledge. Everything we nurtured grew up and strode on their ways but we stayed stagnant, following the same old routine of every housewife.

Sadly, tradition and society helps us no longer to sort our priorities once we turn forty. We are practically jobless, hobby-less, childless and friendless. It’s never too late to press the reset button and jumble up the list of priorities. Now the things that never drew our attention are screaming for help. It’s high time that now we turn selfish from selfless and make our top priority to take care of ourselves.

1.           So, the first priority should be health, something that we’ve ignored for a very long time. And now our body’s sending weird signals to wake up and start looking after ourselves. As we now have more time in our hands, we can certainly sneak out an hour for our body and start following a healthy routine.
2.           Finding a hobby should be the second on the list. It’s the best way to beat the anxiety and stress that we feel due to the turbulence in our raging hormones as many of us are preparing to hit menopause soon enough. So grab a painting brush, or hold a ladle, share your household tips, or do anything that reaches out to make you smile. It’s the first step forward towards self discovery. If a handful of us are ambitious enough then this may lead to an opening for a career.
3.            Grab your searchlights and hunt for a Soul Sister. And once a week make it a point to meet over lunches or coffee. This is, believe me, the only way to vent out our feelings and empty our filled up hearts. We are emotional species and we really need someone who understands us, preferably women. And husbands strictly don’t fall into this category.
4.            Our spouses are our partners in life. So they deserve more of our time now. Let’s re-ignite the old flames and start re-dating our better halves or watch movies with him, or a trip to the place where you could never enter with kids hanging on your backs and shoulders. It’s actually the best age to search for the lost love that you saw the first time you met him.
5.           Now we come to the kids, who are basically not much of our priority. They have completely consumed our attention so far. But now is the time to let go and allow them to decide on their own. They are grown up enough to choose what to wear or what to eat. Like the mighty eagle, we have taught them how to fly. Now they know how to be independent. Thus, they don’t need our assistance in petty stuff of their routines. 
6.                     Revive knowledge. We had emptied our minds the day we got married and simply obeyed and followed what the elders told us to. Sadly, our kids find us dumb and ignorant. Ouch! So, start working on that- Read books, search internet, watch news, meet people with right intellect, whatever and update your mental data. Our age should reflect our wisdom.

Hopefully, I’ve covered what needs to revive a woman into a new person and these priorities must focus on our body, soul, heart, surroundings and mind. The simple crux should be that we are precious. Learning to love and respect ourselves can only lead to pure inner happiness. All this might sound selfish, but we have already spent half our lives and major part of our youth on others and never asked anything in return.

But now, it’s our time to live and see the world, experience new things and might dig into those lands where we never thought of visiting in our younger days. Our homes can survive our absence for a while, but our minds and body would be shattered if we don’t break the bonds and live for ourselves at some point in our lives.