By: Dr. Paula.O.M.Otukile
I remember years ago looking at a forty year old teacher. She looked much older, wiser, and in actual sense and reality the experience she had, the car that she drove and the yard that she owned with the 16 year old first born complimented her very well.
Many forty years old people had property and were very much settled with their families. Numerous were already beginning to get grandchildren as their earlier bird first born had begun to have their first fruits.
However just a simple analysis today forty year olds seem like late youths not individuals who are ten years from fifty years of age.
Numerous women who are born 1983, still look younger, even the lifestyle does not indicate elevation to another age decade, economic recession and job scarcities in sub-Sahara and the entire Africa made things worse, as few got plots or own homes whilst the majority are the baby mamas and baby daddies without anything to call their own except a big fraction that just woke up two or three years ago to attain homes and matrimonial lodgings whilst the rest are renting or living with their parents.
It is not a farfetched idea to say forty of today is like twenty first, while the young people born by the millennium and after are coming with a strong energy of multiple thoughts and ideas, they are hungry for wealth and success such that they school and work with a great rhythm, they are strongly built and more advanced as many pass as the older ones whereas they are the last borns of the era, they are so talented and highly motivated.
Not to say forty’s are relaxed but to compare is out of reach, as the forty year Old’s are a germ in terms of humility and respect as well as acknowledgements of senior ones and other sectors.
We have inter-generational differences so diverse and visible but also complimenting each other making it exciting to live in this era.
Mt Kenya Times 
Mary Karau Ngethe