I turned 40 years old.

Kafka died at the age of 39. I outlived him. So did Gregor Samsa's insect.

It's a bit intimidating to have lived four decades. I mean, in comparison to

- Chekhov, who died at the age of 44,

- Van Gogh, who died at the age of 37, 

- Caravaggio, who died at the age of 38,

- Orhan Veli, who died at the age of 36.

I feel late.

Fidel was 33 years old at the Cuban revolution. Che was 31 at that time, then 38 when he desisted of the revolutionary struggle in Congo, and finally 39 years old when murdered in Bolivia. 

I feel lost.

At the age of 40, Nazim Hikmet was in prison for already for four years and would remain there for another eight years. 

Oguz Atay wrote Tutunamayanlar at the age of 37.

But there might still be hope. 

Lenin was 47 years old at the Bolshevik revolution.

Marx was 30 when the Communist Manifesto was published, but finished the first volume of The Capital at the age of 49.

Charles Chaplin did The Modern Times at the age of 47, the same age that Orson Welles did The Trial.

In any case, having lived - and having lived well - for forty years, is an achievement to celebrate.