Beauty Tips

10 Women Get Real About Turning 40

Is it as bad as you think? Spoiler: It's so. much. better.

by Lindsay Tigar | COMMENT

PHOTO 5/11

"I paid my dues -- and got my PhD." When she turned 39, leadership consultant Froswa Booker-Drew thought life was going to come together, especially since a treasured friend reassured her all of her insecurities would disappear. After all, she says, there's a reason so many people call it '40 and fabulous.' But when they both reached this pivotal, seemingly monumental decade-eve? They knew it was time to figure out what the next 40 years would offer them. A few months from the big 4-0, Booker-Drew applied to a Ph.D. program and was accepted. Not only did she earn that degree, but she wrote two books, too -- all of which were plunges she would have thought twice about earlier in her life. "You feel as if you've paid your dues and now it's time to explore and embrace who you really are without so much criticism and judgement from yourself or listening/believing that mess from others. The bulges, stretch marks and cellulite are still ever-present, and they're proof of the struggles, successes and some sins," she said. "I think I've become much more accepting of myself and of others. I've taken risks in my 40s that I wasn't secure to pursue in my 30s."

Image via Froswa Booker-Drew

SEE NEXT PAGE: "I realized I can't do it all -- but I'm still very happy."

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