Never Too Late for Love After 40, Best-Selling Author Rejoices

Love is Holding Someone Close With Your Arms Wide Open
Simple little books packed with profound meaning that have the potential to encourage Modern Lovers to follow the bold and conscious path – well, to borrow from a classic musical, these are a few of my favorite things. So when my friends at Viva Editions reminded me of BJ Gallagher’s gem, It’s Never Too Late To Be What You Might Have Been (2009), I was prepared to review it with an open mind, not necessarily be transported down memory lane to trip over visions of chance encounters and supreme love.

Gallagher’s book is an easy read, a lazy afternoon or rainy day distraction for the aficionados of positivity, perhaps too corny for those who like their words laced with cynicism and spice. A collection of real life stories, Never Too Late is grouped into the expected categories: Make Your Dreams Come True, Start a New Career, Gather Wealth, etc. The last chapter, and the one to flip on the nostalgic switch, is about finding true love in the second half of life.

“I’ve heard it said that a woman over 40 has a better chance of being kidnapped by a terrorist than she does of finding a husband. I don’t buy it.” Gallagher writes. “I’ve seen too many examples of older [people] finding true love.”

And then she guides us to a similar optimism, in story after story, about men and women of various ages who push through their personal baggage (Modern Love prefers the phrase, ‘Louis Vuitton luggage,’ since our self-perception informs our expectations) to find love at last.

One personal favorite, “Footwork and Timing,” tells the story of a woman who finds love with a man 15 years her senior. Missing from this tale is the stereotype of a wealthy, older man decorating himself with arm-candy. Instead, these beloveds must work through previous setbacks and disenchantment to find salvation in the serendipitous meeting and acceptance of one another. Their relationship ultimately flourishes because they accept that, “love is holding someone close, with your arms wide open.”

Gallagher’s writing is crisp, authentic and inspirational, while generally avoiding new-age cliché, although at times the lessons sound familiar (if only because love is universal, and we’ve been trying to decipher and capture it for millennia). Love is sometimes unconventional. We may suddenly find ourselves contemplating lovers and situations unlike anything we’d imagined. The person holding the key to our heart may turn up in the most unlikely places and times.

And it takes a leap of faith, a trust in the process, and soul work to find and love one’s soul mate.

BJ GALLAGHER is a dynamic workshop leader and charismatic keynote speaker, as well as a much-published author. She conducts seminars for women's groups, professional organizations, and corporations. An irrepressible media maven, BJ has appeared several times on the Today Show and in the pages of many women's magazines and newspapers from the Los Angeles Times to the Chicago Tribune and the New York Times. She lives in Los Angeles.

Gallagher will be giving a reading on November 10 in Irvine, California. Click here to learn more about events by Viva Editions.

It's Never to Late to Be What You Might Have Been is available by Viva Editions, publishers of inspirational literature.

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