Will life begin soon?

There is an interestingly desperate sounding phrase, life begins at forty. I have often wondered if this is to make people feel better about getting old or a declaration that you are starting to get your life back after years of looking after family etc. Conclusions, absolutely none, but let's have a look.

Option 1
In the modern world the arrival of 40 is a major blow to many. they look back in horror at what they feel where the best days of their life and wonder what the heck happened, who dumped a bowling ball in their stomachs, stole their hair, made what is left grey, gave them faces that would make a great climbing route, and took away their ability to have energy and imbide massive quantities of alcohol and food without any worry at all.
It is also a time when people think about all of the wild things they dreamed of in their youth, look at their teenage or older children and think how they would love to be that age again, and what they would do differently.
For many they think life is over. They know that retirement will be adding more to the medication pile they are starting to use, have little energy to enjoy it and often no money as well. So when someone comes up saying life begins at 40 they probably want to rip their heads off and shove it up their rectum for taking the mick.
I posted on her about midlife crisis a while ago, and much as I take the mick I do understand that it is easy for people to be swept along then wish they'd stopped along the way to enjoy life more. If you are doing that now, going wild and abandoning the life you have is not a solution, the choices you made and commitments are your own, and if you take a really good look the chances are you have a lot to be thankful for.

I took the road less travelled and it lead me back to the same place as many, just further along it. I am proud of being a boring old man now and my declaration of this was challenged by a colleague yesterday who said that you cannot be unusual and boring at the same time. I argued my case but there is a good chance that I was wrong and may be more interesting than I give myself credit for, but I doubt it.
I am bigger around the middle than I used to be but most half my age consider me trim, I am going bald and grey, it's not a good look but I accept it without trying to hide or prevent it, as Steve Tyler san 'every time that I look in the mirror, all these lines on my face getting clearer' so yes I would say I expect I look every bit the middle aged man I am. I have had a few people telling me I don't look my age and others saying I do, meaning I likely still haven't worn well and look a bit over 40 already, no big deal I have looked older my entire adult life.
Where I am different is I genuinely don't care. I didn't do many of the things I dreamed of going straight onto in my youth, but they were very sensible goals that I have gone onto do some of later, my time was a period of blatant stupidity I shouldn't have survived and pay for with some daily pain, and a lower salary than I could be on if I had gone the more standard route, worth every penny to know what really does make me happy and be content with myself. I look old, live a sensible and industrious life that benefits my family and myself without harming others, and have no desire to recapture my youth.
The things many miss from youth aren't important to me, I don't drink alcohol, the only 'wild night out' I have had in years was my brother's stag do, I wasn't at mine, I don't mind looking well out of my twenties or thirties or if people think my clothes are out of date and mis-matched, I never had any style anyway.

Option 2
After years of working hard and raising a family, the time is coming when you are able to start getting some time for yourself. You can do things that you couldn't in your youth because you didn't have the funds or the ability to get insurance. The sports car that would have required a second mortgage to insure can now be covered for just over a weeks salary. You have lost a bit of shape but are now able to get to the gym or exercise club and have made friends there of similar age. You are going on holiday to exotic destinations because you can and your children are jealous.
The road most travelled has been kind to you and the mortgage is in it's last years and well under half what it would cost to rent now. The garden is perfect, you wear what you like pottering around in it then laze around admiring it.

This is where the cost of going the alternative route shows, and there have been a few large spanners thrown into the works too. I started the normal life later than most and subsequently my son is not even in his teens yet, so my life is a continuous stream of work and family commitments, my time will not be my own for a good while yet if at all. Aspergers children don't always leave home, as they can't always cope alone so there is a chance that I could be looking after my son in a limited capacity for the rest of my life, even if only providing a home and reminding him about daily tasks that seem so unimportant to them, like washing and dressing. I could be looking at this type of situation at 50 but 40 will not see me getting more time to enjoy the garden, which in itself is no big deal as I hate gardening with a passion.
I would like more leisure time, but accept this as the cost of having lots of it when younger, we all have to put in the work if we want anything out of life, and I definately do.

Will life begin for me at 40? No.
Will life end for me at 40? No.
Will turning 40 affect me? Yes.
Will I do anything major to mark the event? Don't know.

To me the definition of beign middle aged is that I am in the middle of my life's progression, so it is not a begining or an end, in fact it's just another day, marking another year/ decade I have survived.
I will be affected by turning 40. I drive one of the most boring vehicles known to man so insurance will drop as long. I will have to tick the boxes saying I am in the 40 to 49 age group on questionaires. I will lose more of my hair and more of it will be going or have gone grey. Training will keep my recovery rate high, but I will be relying on that more all of the time.
I have marked out what I would like for my birthday, and it's not exciting to anyone but me. The chances are the celebration will be at a family restaurant or gastro pub, because that enables me to be with people who are important to me.

I don't expect I will feel any different than I do now. In the same way as after turning 30, which many made a big deal about. A lot of people are telling me they hated turning 40 but personally I don't see the issue.

I am immortal until proven otherwise!