July, July, July! I love the month of July! Not because it’s the hottest and most summerly month in Germany—and I do love summer—but because it is also my birthday month. And this month was big, really big. I entered the big 4-0! Wow!
The Big 4-0! Looking Back at four Decades of Growth
For most people turning 40 feels scary. Not for me though, I’m actually quite happy about it. Leaving my 20s and 30s behind, I carry their lessons, teachings, and wisdom with me. I believe that at a certain age, life becomes more enriching and fulfilling, and I think it’s because of the fact that we have embraced life more, lived life more.
As for me, my twenties were quite stressfull, traumatic, and very heartbreaking. It was a decade of self-discovery, healing, confusion, and navigating through that confusion and the pain that comes with it. I’ve experienced it all and grown from it! Been there, done that! Now that I’m forty I can say I would never want to go back, and yet at the same time I’m so grateful to all the versions I’ve lived through in my twenties.
My thirties, however, felt different. Things took on a different vibe. Following my Saturn return at age 29-30, I turned my life around, quit smoking, changed my whole lifestyle, went vegan, and I found a stronger sense of self, stability, and maturity. I discovered so much more about myself—it’s insane!
I’ve gone through numerous life transformations during my thirties, changes that fill me with immense pride.
Spiritually talking, the thirties have been the most significant decade of growth and self-exploration.
I’ve embraced countless versions of myself, letting them go and rebuilding myself again, emerging as the woman I am today. It’s been a truly remarkable journey, and I’m so proud of myself for making my highest commitment to healing and being as healthy as I can be. This commitment is what drives me and gets me out of bed every morning—this zest for life! Let me be totally clear: not every day feels like that. Even when I wake up in a lower mood, it’s still the force of that commitment that pushes me to choose myself and stay true to my mission.
I’ve learnt so much and I cannot be more grateful to all the versions that I’ve lived through.
The experiences from that decade really laid the foundation for everything that I’m doing now and will be doing in the future.
I planted the seeds for a lot of growth, and I’ve been learning that it takes time, patience, dedication, faith, and surrender to fully open myself up to this experience called life.
Turning 40 – A Big Initiation
I’m not sure about you, but every year, about a month before my birthday, I find myself in a vortex of some sort that makes me go through all sortes of emotions, reflecting on the past year and releasing the things that no longer serve me, that I have outgrown, and that are no longer necessary.
To me, turning 40 was a big, huge initiation. Wow, there was so much coming up. I was reflecting on my entire life, on the things that I have achieved, and the things that I wish I could’ve done differently. It was like standing at the edge of a cliff, looking back at the winding path I had walked—filled with triumphs, stumbles, and unexpected turns. I realized that every experience, whether good or bad, had shaped me into the person I am today.
This milestone was less about lamenting what could have been and more about embracing what is. It was a call to live more authentically, to prioritize joy and purpose over achievment and burnout, and to be kinder to myself for the choices I made when I didn’t know any better. GRACE! A lot of GRACE!
It’s okay to grieve the things we thought we would have, the things we thought we would have done, and the versions of ourselves we leave behind as we step into a whole new chapter. It’s bittersweet.
Now that I’m 40, I feel a new sense of clarity about who I am and what truly matters to me. It’s remarkable how much of the things I thought I wanted don’t matter any longer.
I think there are certain realizations that come only with a certain age.
I want a simple life filled with nature, adventure, friends, love, and beauty. I want land to tend, where I can grow my own food. I want a family to care for and a relaxed, slow-paced life, making music, serving women, and cooking delicious vegan food.
Looking back, it’s not just about what I’ve done or haven’t done, but about how I want to spend the rest of my life—fully present, fully engaged, and fully me.
I’ve heard nothing but great things about being in your forties. People often describe them to me as some of the best years of life. And I have a feeling that that might be true.
Another physical Injury
It left us quite exhausted and unfortunately my left ankle and foot started swelling 2 hours later.
I was shocked to experience yet another injury. Following my adductor muscle strain, which took a while to recover from, I resumed training, only to injure myself again while playing Squash. Ouch! 🙈
The pain was unbearable, and I feared I wouldn’t be able to walk for another two weeks. Prior to that, I started feeling discomfort in the ligaments around my left ankle, which, while not extremely painful, was quite uncomfortable, and I think playing Squash was just too much. But so much fun! 😀
The underlying cause of all these injuries is inflammation in the body. I’ve been healing my body using Medical Medium protocols and other healing modalities, and they do help, but releasing all the heavy metals and all sorts of viruses that we carry around can take time. Flare-ups are quite common, so I listen to my body’s cues and continue healing on a deeper level.
But let me tell you, I was so damn relieved and happy when I could start exercising again at the end of the month.
We often take our health and wellbeing for granted, not realizing the importance of a particular body part until it starts to ache and becomes unusable. It’s only when we experience discomfort that we truly value its health. I am grateful for every part of my body. We are all wonderfully crafted human beings. We are all miracles walking this planet.
My Birthday Journey to Becoming a Polyglot
I gave myself a birthday gift and bought life-time access to a very popular language learning app for all languages. I had let my language learning slide a bit, and I find the idea of being a polyglot simply fascinating. I’m relearning and refreshing two languages at the same time: my favorite, French, and my second favorite, Spanish. It’s so much fun, and I invest quite a lot of time because I take this goal very seriously.
Speaking various languages opens many doors both personally and professionally. It opens the door to different cultures and their people, to custums and traditions. It gets me so excited. And I love, love, love it!
But since it is also pretty time-consuming, I don’t have as much time to read novels, so I’m reducing the number of books I read each month. Which is a bit sad but otherwise there’s no way I could do all that while running my business, teaching, and doing probono work.
Always follow your excitement!
Which leads me to…👇
Vibrant Flowers Explosion
I love flowers and gardening. In my case, I’m talking balcony gardening. It fills me with so much joy to see all the beauty on my balcony. Sometimes I just sit there and admire my flowers.
The following are some flowers that are abundantly growing on my balcony this summer.
My Podcast Episodes
No episodes recorded in July! I’m on a podcast summer break!
But let me recommend to you some oldies instead. 🙂
My Blog Posts in July
Book Picks of The Month
- A NOVEL LOVE STORY by Ashley Poston
- BONJOUR AGNETA by Emma Hamberg
- YOURS TRULY by Abby Jimenez
- PEOPLE WE MEET ON VACATION by Emily Henry
My Lost In Pages articles:
- LOST IN PAGES: BOOK REFLECTIONS JUNE 2024 – SUMMER, VACATION, LOVE
- LOST IN PAGES: BOOK REFLECTIONS MAY 2024 – SECOND CHANCES AND PARALLEL LIVES
- LOST IN PAGES: BOOK REFLECTIONS, APRIL 2024 – THE HEROINE’S JOURNEY
- LOST IN PAGES: BOOK REFLECTIONS MARCH 2024 – JOURNEYING THROUGH LOSS, GRIEF, AND NEWFOUND JOY
My Outlook for August 2024
- Watching the Olympics, after enjoying the Euro2024 Football Championship here in Germany, I cannot wait to indulge in the Olympic Games: Whoop whoop!
- Being in nature
- Enjoying the summer in Berlin.
- Writing more, creating more, expressing myself more
- Working on new projects! Soon, soon!
I wonder how your July was? Feel free to leave a comment.
Thank you so much for being here.
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