#Life Begins @ ♡40♡!

 

Today is the day! From this one-year old toddler happily sitting  for her first birthday picture, I'm now a blogger happily writing about turning ♡40♡! 

Mini-me smiling on my first birthday!

I don't feel 40, and I don't really know how 40 should feel like. :) If it is suppose to feel great like this, how come some dread the big 4-0?!

Originally, I wanted to make a 9-month count down to my 40th birthday, and thus I created Being Beautifully 40 blog for this purpose. But daily life got in the way of what I thought was a genial and fun idea! 

Today, I changed the blog name (tentatively) to Being Beautifully (in your) 40's because I would like to continue having that blog, and plan to write on thoughts about being in one's 40's, about positive thinking, about how I make an effort to take care of my skin, maintain healthy lifestyle through different physical activities,good nutrition and reasonable diet.

Speaking of good nutrition and reasonable diet, I'm off to get a small cake for teatime :D.  Today is only a simple celebration because mijn liefste P is out of town for his job and won't be back until tomorrow evening.

an image from my birthday cake last year; on my way to get a small one for teatime, since my huge cake will have to wait when mijn liefste P can be there to celebrate with us perhaps on Sunday after my race on the 25th of March @ Zandvoort Circuit Run

We plan to have a proper celebration, with a weekend get away next month! I'll share about it here of course. :)

I do plan to try once again (never give up!:D) to blog regularly if not daily.  Something in me can't give up the attempt at a whole year of blogging.  But this time, I am quiet relaxed about the whole process.  A recent a-ha experience, and a private message from a Pisces soulsistah, reminded me why I write, why I truly enjoy blogging.  

Yes, I aspire to have a big audience for what I  am passionate about. It's a goal to have huge readership.  Perhaps even a validation of sorts from a well established company supporting me with what I write through advertisement and sponsorship.  

What fulfills me deeply though, I have to openly admit, are those random private messages from anonymous random readers, who tells me that I've inspired them with my words, with what I do, and that I've given them something to feel hopeful and positive about in their day. It's a soulful luxury of blogging for self-expression.

What's next, if life begins at 40?!

Onward, forward! I love, and am inspired by this quote that I recently stumbled upon:

Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve the next time. ~ Og Mandino

My campaign for a simple - simplified - life with my family continues.  A simple, healthy lifestyle with lots of quality family time, and shared simple pleasures together and with our friends.

I would love to run faster, but as it is, I am quiet grateful that I am physically healthy enough to enjoy the passion for running.  Training for my first Berlin Marathon 2012 would start next week, and you could follow all about that @ Happy Feet in the Netherlands.

Running and biking are two of many things I could count as personal achievements, since we moved here in the Netherlands, three years ago.

 

My second run on the sand, @ Almere beach, Netherlands

a moment captured by mijn liefste P, as I finished my run and Littlest welcomed me with a big warm smile and warm embrace

an image mijn liefste P caught during our biking tour to Naarden Vesting, Netherlands, which I edited as a cheerful image for when we go for family short trips to Germany

Recently, I revived, The Lightness of Being on the Bike, a blog, which documents personal bike adventures on my own and with my family. I look forward to doing that regularly, too this year.

Finally, I created a FaceBook page, which I called  Paper In Europe, to be the headquarters of all the blogs I write, and a place where I could share writing endevours & projects, and many more.  Please, do visit and like the page, if you share the goal to inspire & be inspired.

Well, I say, bring on the new pages of  life in my 40's! :) I can't wait to ink it with stories of adventures, inspirations, life's lessons and fun!