Every time I interview a 40-something woman for 40:20 Vision I ask them what 3 “gifts” would they give a 20-something if they were a “Forty-Godmother”. Here are one woman’s gifts:
1.
A crystal ball. When you are younger you don’t know there is another side—you think that it will never get better again. But if you could just see enough into the future to know that you will be okay. When you are twenty, when you have a break up or a foul up at work you think that life is over. It isn’t. When you are older you know that no matter how tough it is, for every down there is an up and you are capable of pulling yourself up and being all the better for it.
2.
An automatic makeup remover. I wish I had taken my makeup off every night. I thought my skin is great I don’t need to take it off. But it probably took a toll on it.
3. Attention. I wish I had I paid attention more and partied less. I look at how much I have achieved with out all that and think if I had paid more attention to what I was learning — I wonder how much more I would have done. It’s part knowing you will be okay but the other part hard work and making smart choices.