What it's really like to be 40 years old.

If you’ve learned how to say “no” and you value the quality of your friends over the quantity, you’ve achieved middle-aged levels of wisdom (no matter what your real age is).

There’s an article called “The Secret Life of 40-year-olds” that’s attracted a tidal wave of comments online this week. Published in The Telegraph on Monday, the piece argues that there should be a documentary-style television program detailing what it’s really like to be middle-aged (much like popular UK show The Secret Life of Four-Year-Olds, you see.)

In the piece, columnist Sali Hughes lists a few key points that would need to be included in any such program — and her suggestions are so spot-on that they’re likely to resonate with any woman nearing middle age.

Her hilariously on-point suggestions include the following pearls of wisdom about life as an older (and wiser) woman:

“We say no to all manner of things that we might have previously have accepted.”

“This includes any social engagement that requires standing up for extended periods,” Hughes explains.

“We want fewer, but better, friends.”

“I simply don’t have the time to spend on crazies (a madness score of up to 7/10 is within normal range), untrustworthy gossips or joy-sappers,” she quips.

“We can say sorry.”

“I am able to say I made a mistake. I make hundreds. I know I’m often wrong about things and I’m happy to say so because the belligerent are completely unbearable company.”

“Fashion becomes complicated.”

Hughes admits that she has, “for the first time in [her[ life, stopped to consider the concept of ‘mutton dressed as lamb’.”

The article has been shared more than 2,000 times already, and Hughes’ observations were met with recognition by many of The Telegraph‘s readers.

“Bang on the mark,” Catrin Johnson commented on The Telegraph‘s website.

“I turned 40 this year and some of that definitely rings true,” Ed Kilworth wrote.

“I laughed with recognition at nearly all of that,” chimed in Sharon McGuinness.

A number of other readers then added their own suggestions, including the following gems:

“We are shocked at how old other people look when we are told that they are 40 but realise we too must be in the same boat.”

“You cannot consume the amount of calories you used to if you don’t want to get fat.”

“Going out anywhere on New Year’s Eve is out of the question.”

“You think that pop music of the early 1980s is somehow much better than it used to be, whilst anything newer is generally garbage.”

“You think like a 20 year old but you actually don’t give a damn what people think.”

“You give up on completing your music collection and just buy the Greatest Hits.”

A small portion of readers did vehemently disagree with Hughes’ list — emphasising that age was just a state of mind, and that Hughes’ list made her sound old before her time.

“I got to 40 and was stronger than I had been even when I had been in the infantry,” wrote one commenter.

“This sounds like a 70-year-old rather than 40. Has she been lying about her age?” another said of Hughes’ list.

“Age is all in the mind. Our bodies are getting older, nothing we can do about that, but we don’t need to mentally,” another pointed out.

 What did you think of the list — and what would you add to it? Let us know in the comments section below.