Today I turned 40. You know, it’s one of those big birthdays because it has the 0 on the end. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been around that long, but there you go.

I spent lunch today in Bryant Park. It was a perfect weather day: 80 degrees, very low humidity, nice breeze. For some reason, I started thinking about how long I’ve been doing some things (and writing this blog entry as a result).

I’ve been in the work force just about 1/2 of my life. Thankfully I’ve been mostly happy with the six jobs I’ve had since that eats up so much time. Still, that’s a long time to work… especially when it seems like it’s what I do the most of. And, if you assume that I’ll work to the 65 retirement age, I’ve still got 25 years to go.

I’ve been with Will nearly 1/3 of my life. How lucky am I to be able to say that I’ve been with the love of my life for such a long time! It’s actually more than 1/2 of my adult life. I look forward to spending the rest of time with him. Happily by the time I reach 60, he’ll have crossed the point where he will have been with me for 1/2 my life.

I’ve been in New York City 1/4 of my life. When I was in high school and college it was just a dream to live here and now its been nearly 10 years (that anniversary comes this December). It hasn’t always been the best place to be, but I wouldn’t trade the time here for anything. The only place I’ve lived longer was Alabama, at 15 years.

I have to say that I’m not sure I’ve found my major calling in life yet. As I roll into what is very likely middle age (what’s the male life expectancy these days? 70-something?) that is a bit of a concern. While building websites is a pretty fun career, it’s not exactly making the world a better place. I suspect my chance to do that will present itself at some appropriate time.

All things considered, I have a very, very good life. It’s full of love, family & friends and overall happiness.

Cheryl posted an amazing item yesterday, based on a story she heard at church. It told the story of a man who took stock of his time left by using a box of marbles. Each marble represented the Saturdays he had left, based on his life expectancy. I highly recommend everyone check out “A Story of a Thousand Marbles (an adaptation*).”

It was particularly good timing for me to read that on the eve of this birthday. I’ve got 1800 some Saturdays left if all goes well. Tons of time, right? Well, not really when I think about how fast this first 40 years zipped by. Now I just need to figure out what to do with those Saturdays…