“Suits” and “Grey’s Anatomy” star Katherine Heigl marked her 40th birthday with an inspiring message about aging.
“I’m pretty damn thrilled to be 40,” the actress wrote in an Instagram post-Monday with a photo of herself at her birthday celebration.
She recounted how her mother always likes to remind her that getting older is better than the alternative, adding “Too true mother, too true!”
More than this, Heigl said being 40 feels like a certain kind of freedom: “Freedom from all the self doubt, insecurities, self loathing, uncertainties and anxieties of my 20’s and 30’s.”
While her 30s were an important time for the actress to find herself, she said she feels like 40s made her “older and wiser, steadier in my convictions, more certain of my strengths, more forgiving of my faults.”
Heigl went on to address the stigma attached to arriving at a certain age, recounting how some people told her not to worry because she still looks great or being reminded of turning 50 and feeling really old.
She noted the importance of outlook through acceptance and positivity saying, “I’ve made up my mind not to let a number determine how I feel about the way I look. Or what my value as a woman in society is.”
“I’m a stronger, better, more grounded and courageous woman today and I will do my best to continue to grow so I can say the same thing at 50, 60, 70 and beyond,” she added. /cbb