"Marrying someone you aren't crazy about only to secure the financial and domestic conveniences of wedlock is as stale and trite as day-old Doritos. Settling represents a failure of both imagination and confidence. It marks an essential disregard for others and for ourselves: for the capacity to love, to give, to inspire. It's difficult enough to make a marriage last. If we cannot so much as drum up enthusiasm in the beginning-if we lack even the memory of a full-blooded passion to sustain us through times of trial-then we are frail indeed. By settling, we exploit others, and we impoverish ourselves.' -- Cristina Nehring, author of 'A Vindication of Love: Reclaiming Romance for the Twenty-First Century"

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40 Things Every Woman Should Do Before She Turns 40 | The Frisky

Well, happy day for me! I have a good 20 years to go, and have accomplished some key things on the list, esp #9, and clearly #18, altho I wonder if it should further clarify by saying, 'and actually post regularly.' I'd say I'm about a quarter of the way there, which is a good place to be considering that some of these things are clearly suited for those years that inch closer to 40 *ahem, marriage.*

1. Write a novel.
2. Stop feeling guilty.
3. Change a diaper.
4. Have an affair.
5. Forgive.
6. Stand on your head.
7. Fall in love.
8. Get your heart broken.
9. Go to Paris.
10. Buy a car.
11. Buy incredibly expensive lingerie.
12. Buy a sex toy.
13. Get a president elected.
14. Learn how to ride a horse.
15. Try anal sex.
16. Stop trying to figure out if you’re a feminist or not.
17. Have a baby.
18. Start a blog.
19. Experience umami, try uni, and embrace wabi-sabi.
20. Drive over 100 mph.
21. Give ‘til it hurts.
22. Earn a degree.
23. Lose someone close to you.
24. Be scared s**tless and do it anyway.
25. Accept the ravages of gravity.
26. Get a Rolex.
27. Lose it.
28. Scream at the top of your lungs.
29. Quit a job you hate.
30. Start a job you love.
31. Get married.
32. Get divorced.
33. Travel alone.
34. Visit three continents not including your own.
35. Balance a checkbook.
36. Get custom fitted for a bra.
37. Give up on thongs.
38. Get diagnosed; survive.
39. Lose it all.
40. Win everything back.

from The Frisky: 40 Things Every Woman Should Do Before She Turns 40