40 days and 40 nights...........

We have all heard the biblical stories of 40 days and 40 nights, haven't we? Jesus fasted for 40 days and 40 nights in the desert while tempted by the devil.........Moses fasted during his 40 day, 40 night stay on Mt. Sinai and Noah was to save the whole world in a 'boat' during his 40 days and 40 nights in the rain...........40? what is it's significance? as a number? as an age?

It appears that the number 40 'is' of great significance and has been found to have had significance in the ancient calender........ in the early tracking of 40 days  it was found to be a very effective method of measuring and metering out each passing solar year. Ancient writings and artifacts (including certain monuments) make it clear that a cycle of 40 days was once carefully time tracked. Early astronomers appear to have once time tracked a cycle of 40 days for calendric purposes and also appear to have revered and celebrated this cycle in the practice of religion.

40 as an number
Forty denotes that time is on your side. It is a period of cleansing, preparation and growth.

Can I just reiterate that......cleansing, preparation and growth.....

Wow......well that explains my 40th year, amazing......and if I hadn't of lived through all that I had in the past 39 years I would have never been prepared......the growth factor seems to be beyond scalable and now coming into the last stretch.....after all the trials and tribulations, joys and sorrows, ups and downs I am truly able to say that all that came before this 40th year is behind me....I have come to beleive that a woman is no longer the same 'being' after turning 40 (or is that just me), everything from the age of 0-40 is just the 'preparation', her 40th year is her 'cleansing' and from there on in it is all an opportunity at 'growth'.
Real growth.....everything I thought I believed, perceived, needed and wanted has changed because I have changed.....I no longer see life, love and happiness through the eyes of a child.....who cannot let go...I see them through the eyes of this woman, who 'let it all go'....she let go of demands, expectations and limitations....existing only in the realm of the 'moment'.....this 'moment'....the here and now, in which she has been blessed to cross over to another side of her existence.....as I move forward into a period of life I have never experienced before....with a little less uncertainty about who and what I am....I find myself feeling more and more grateful for this year......this year that taught me more about me than I thought I would figure out in one lifetime, let alone one year....as I prepare to step into that 41st year.....that's what 40 as a number and
as an age represents to me...........Namaste