I woke up this morning.  That’s always a good thing.  It means I have another day to enjoy on the green side of the grass and do what I do.

Yet, I woke up this morning, and things were totally different.

Today is my 40th birthday.  A big moment in anyone’s life.  After all, with the average life expectancy of a male in the United States pegged just shy of 80, that means that statistically half of my life is now in the book.

Today, I look back at the accomplishments of my past 40 years, and I have to smile.  Sure, I did some pretty dumb things through the years.  Opportunities lost – or completely missed.  Bad decisions when I should have been making better ones.

But, all in all, I am where I am by making a lot of the right decisions.  Studying hard in school.  Graduating high school – then college.  Asking my wife to marry me.  Buying our first and only home.  Deciding with my wife to become parents…

Becoming a woodworker.  It’s amazing to think that I’ve been woodworking for a quarter of my life.  About the same amount of time I have been a parent.  I just can’t imagine life without my kids or my craft.

The crazy thing is that I feel like I’m not over the hill – but as if I am finally arriving at adulthood.  My thirties were better than my twenties, and I feel as if my forties will be even better.  After all, now I have another decade of knowledge and wisdom that I didn’t have when I entered my thirties.  I am better at my job, I’m a better husband and father and I’m a much better woodworker.

Now, a lot of those painful learning lessons of just getting here are over and done with. Oh, sure I have a whole bunch more to get through – after all, my sons have yet to reach the terrible teen years.

However, I also know not to take myself so seriously.  Now, I know that I have established myself at my job and in my craft.  Now, I come armed with the knowledge and experience to accomplish what I want to in my life.

Now, I don’t feel like it’s all downhill…

It’s not a midlife crisis – it’s a midlife realization that yes, I did put my mind to what I wanted to do, and I was able to do it.  Besides, if I did have a midlife crisis, I wouldn’t go for the stereotypical red convertible Corvette- I’d spring for a Powermatic 66 or a Delta Unisaw…

It almost makes me want to go out and build a new project with techniques I have never tried before…

Thanks for reading.