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The 40+ Edition | Midlife, made lighter

@the.40plusedit

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Confidence, calm & relatable chaos for midlife women 40+ ✨
New thoughts every week…

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After turning 40, I stopped letting the world dictate my mornings. Now, I do this one thing for my future self instead. ✨

I used to reach for my phone first thing, letting everyone else’s news, opinions and demands into my day before I’d even properly woken up.

Honestly, why are we doing that to ourselves? 😂

These days, I’m learning that I don’t need to be available to everyone the second I open my eyes.

My mornings don’t need to start with scrolling, worrying about what I’ve missed or mentally writing a to-do list before I’ve even got out of bed.

So, one little change I’ve made is to leave my phone alone for the first half an hour and make my bed instead. 🛏️

It’s nothing groundbreaking, and I’m certainly not pretending I’ve got my whole life together. 😂 But there’s something nice about starting the day doing one small thing for myself, rather than immediately reacting to everyone else.

And there’s a bonus: when bedtime comes, I’m not climbing into a bed that’s still a mess.

It’s a little thing, but I’m realising that life after 40 is less about trying to do everything and more about deciding what deserves our energy in the first place.

I can’t control everything that happens during the day, but I can be a little more intentional about how I start it. 🤍

Tell me, what’s the first thing you do when you wake up? Are you straight on your phone, or do you have a little morning ritual? 👇

#womenover40 #midlife #confidence #over40 #thisis40 by @the.40plusedit

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40 minutes ago

Small wins at 40+ that deserve a medal. 🏅😂

Nobody gives you a trophy for finding a parking space right outside, staying awake until 9:45pm, or getting up off the floor without making a noise.

So I’m giving you one. Consider this your medal.

Swipe for all five, save it for the days you need a smile, and send it to the friend who deserves one most. 🫶

Which one gets your medal today? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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13 hours ago

“Enjoy becoming invisible now you’re 40.” 🤍

Someone said this to me when I turned 40, and it shook me. It felt cold and dismissive, and deeply unfair.

It showed me how keen the world is to push women my age into the background, to dim our lights and quietly disappear so everyone else stays comfortable.

Then I sat with it over a quiet cup of tea, and something shifted. If being “invisible” means the pressure of being watched is finally off, then I’m going to enjoy it. 🕊️

For years I dressed for other people, spoke to keep other people comfortable, and spent so much energy wondering whether I was liked.

When the spotlight fades, you start to look inward. And what I found there was good.
I learned what my own voice sounds like when I’m not lowering it for someone else. And I learned I don’t need a crowded room of approval when I have my own.

So yes, let them think we’re fading. While they’re busy looking past us, we’re finally seeing ourselves clearly.

And honestly, it’s the most peaceful place I’ve ever been. 🤍

Has anyone ever made you feel like you were fading as you got older? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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a day ago

One spare sturdy bag for life. Loyalty cards to save 20p. That’s what’s in my handbag now. 👜😂

In my 20s it was an ID card to get into the clubs, an entire make-up bag and a mini bottle of vodka.

In my 40s I’m very proud of my spare bag for life, I will absolutely queue to use a loyalty card, and I feel genuinely smug when it saves me 20p.

Nobody warns you how much you’ll love a bag that’s actually useful. And honestly, I wouldn’t swap it.

Which one is you, 20s me or 40s me? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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2 days ago

The “lazy” weekend habit that made the biggest difference in my forties. 🌿

For years I filled every weekend. Errands, meal prep, catching up on everything I’d missed in the week, and then a Sunday night spent feeling like I’d done a second week of work.

By Monday I was already tired.

So I started protecting one slow window every weekend. No plans, no chores, no list. If I want to read, I read. If I want to sit with a cup of tea and stare out of the window, I do.

It looks lazy from the outside. From the inside, it’s the part of the weekend that makes the rest of it feel good.

What changed:
1. I stopped dreading Sunday nights.
2. I stopped saying yes to things I didn’t want to do just to fill the time.
3. I started the week with energy, not with a to-do list.

At 40+, I’ve learned that rest isn’t something you earn after everything is done. It’s part of the plan.

You still have the rest of today and all of tomorrow. Try one slow hour this weekend and see how it feels. 🤍

Save this for the next time your weekend feels too full, and send it to the friend who never stops. 🫶

What would your slow hour look like? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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2 days ago

A little reminder. 🤍
Your pace is the right pace.

Somewhere along the way many of us picked up the idea that we should be further ahead, doing more, or moving faster than we are. But there’s no deadline on becoming who you want to be, and no one is checking your timeline.

Take the slow morning. Take the long way home. Take the time you need.

Save this for the days you feel behind, and send it to someone who needs the reminder today. 🫶

Do you need this one today? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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3 days ago

POV: your ultimate fantasy after 40 is a quiet cup of tea. ☕😂

Here’s why:
1. It’s ten minutes where nobody needs anything from you.
2. It’s hot, and you actually get to finish it before it goes cold.
3. You’re sitting down. On purpose. With no list.
4. Nobody is asking where something is.
In my 20s the fantasy was a night out. Now it’s a pot of tea, a comfy chair and a door that closes.

Nobody warns you how much you’ll love the smallest, quietest things, and honestly, I wouldn’t swap it.

Save this for the days you need a pot of tea, and send it to the friend who’d say “that’s literally me.” 🫶

Drop a ☕ if tea is your fantasy, or a 🍷 if yours is something stronger!

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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3 days ago

Free things that make life better after 40. 🌿

It’s easy to think a good life costs a lot. But some of the best bits of my forties cost nothing at all: a walk without my phone, a hot cup of tea sitting down, saying no without a ten-minute explanation, an early night, and a long laugh with an old friend.

None of them are glamorous. All of them make a difference.

Swipe for all five, save it for the days you need a reminder, and send it to a friend who deserves a quiet cup of tea today. 🫶

What’s your favourite free thing?
Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #Confidence #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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4 days ago

A woman who has finally run out of energy for people-pleasing is a force to be reckoned with. ⚡

For so much of our lives, we worry about what other people think. We say yes when we want to say no, keep quiet to avoid upsetting anyone, and sometimes put our own happiness last just to keep everyone else happy.

We worry about being too much, saying the wrong thing, or disappointing people.

And then something shifts.

Maybe it’s getting older. Maybe it’s everything life throws at us. Or maybe we just get to a point where we’re tired of making ourselves smaller to keep other people comfortable.

Just like the flowers in this video, we’ve weathered a few storms. 🌸

We’ve had the difficult days, the disappointments and the moments that have tested us. But we’re still here.

And somewhere along the way, we start to realise that we don’t need everyone’s approval to be happy with who we are.

We can say no without feeling guilty. We can change our minds. We can protect our peace without writing a five-paragraph explanation to justify it.

Not everyone will like it. And that’s okay.

Because the truth is, you can spend your whole life trying to keep everyone else happy and still disappoint someone.

So why not start making yourself a priority, too? ❤️

I think one of the best things about getting older is realising that you don’t have to be liked by everyone to live a life you love.

We’re not here to spend the next 40 years worrying about the opinions of people who aren’t living our lives.

We’ve done enough of that already.

What’s something you used to say yes to just to keep other people happy, but now feel comfortable saying no to? I’d love to hear yours in the comments. 👇

#turning40 #womenover40 #over40women #over40 #selflove by @the.40plusedit

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4 days ago

Kebab at 2am and frozen pizza in my 20s.
Dark chocolate “because apparently it contains antioxidants” and a recipe a friend recommended in my 40s. 😂

Nobody warns you that you’ll take food advice from a friend very seriously, or that a collagen sachet will somehow count as a snack.
Which one is you? Tell me below 👇

#WomenOver40 #Midlife #collagensachet #ThisIs40 #Over40Women by @the.40plusedit

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5 days ago

Turning 40 had me questioning why I cared so much about what other people thought. ✨

Looking back, I think I spent far too much time worrying about how I came across to other people. Did they like me? Had I said the wrong thing? Was I being too much, or not enough?

I think a lot of us spend years trying to keep everyone happy, fitting in and worrying about being judged.

And for what, really?

The biggest shift for me was realising that people will have their own opinions of you, regardless of what you do. You can spend your life trying to please everyone, and someone will still find something to criticise.

You can’t control what people think of you. And honestly, that’s quite freeing when you finally accept it.

I’m not saying I never care what people think anymore. I’m human, after all. 😂 But I’m learning that not every opinion needs to matter to me, and not everyone needs to understand me.

Imagine how much energy we’d get back if we stopped overthinking every little thing and started putting ourselves first a little more.

Maybe that’s one of the best things about getting older. You start realising how much of your life you’ve spent worrying about things that really don’t deserve that much of your time.

And I’d quite like to spend the next 40 years doing a little less of that. ❤️

What’s something you used to worry about that you genuinely care a lot less about now? I’d love to know. 👇

#WomenOver40 #WomenInTheir40s #MidlifeWomen #Confidence #ThisIs4 by @the.40plusedit

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5 days ago

✨ A little reminder ✨

I don’t owe anyone an explanation for my peace.

I’m allowed to step back from what drains me, say no without guilt and protect my energy.

Not everyone will understand my choices, and that’s okay.

I’m choosing calm over chaos, peace over pleasing people, and myself without guilt. 🤍

#WomenOver40 #MidlifeWomen #SelfWorth #ProtectYourPeace #confidenceafter40 by @the.40plusedit

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6 days ago