What's so great about being 50?

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 5:27 pm

I saw it, but I knew you didn't mean it that way!

Denny · Post by **Denny** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 5:32 pm

Lambchop wrote:I saw it, but I knew you didn't mean it that way!

I knew you knew I knew, ewe!

Lambchop · Post by **Lambchop** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 9:38 pm

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 10:06 pm

dwinterfield wrote:50 is the point at which it becomes pretty much impossible to argue that you're still got most of your life ahead of you. That's sort of a daunting realization and coming to grips with it is a bit of a challenge. I like to think of it as cresting a hill. Getting to th top was hard. Now that I'm going down the other side, I burn a littel less fuel. I can coast a bit when I want to. The view is much better because I can see much further into to the distance. Enjoy.

I was really surprised when I turned 50. No other age had bothered me, I never gave it a second thought. And I didn't think a thing about turning fifty at all until I did. There must have been something in the back of my head about it though because psychologically from that point onward things have just not been the same. It is really the weirdest thing. It's just a number, but for some reason it was a very powerful number for me. It seems to be a sort of realization that it really is too late for some things. A realization that a certain poem means one thing to someone who is twenty and something very different to me. I'd never had that feeling before. And yet I would never ever want to go back and be twenty again. I guess this is just what the journey is about.

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 10:07 pm

My dad turned fifty a year or two ago.

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Mon Jun 05, 2006 10:10 pm

Does the number 59 have any significance to anyone but me?? Happy birthday to you, etc....

Whistlin'Dixie · Post by **Whistlin'Dixie** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:02 am

Cynth wrote: I was really surprised when I turned 50. No other age had bothered me, I never gave it a second thought. And I didn't think a thing about turning fifty at all until I did. There must have been something in the back of my head about it though because psychologically from that point onward things have just not been the same. It is really the weirdest thing. It's just a number, but for some reason it was a very powerful number for me. It seems to be a sort of realization that it really is too late for some things. A realization that a certain poem means one thing to someone who is twenty and something very different to me. I'd never had that feeling before. And yet I would never ever want to go back and be twenty again. I guess this is just what the journey is about.

I can really relate to this.
I am having real issues about it.
And for the record, I really really DO wish I could go back and be twenty again, since that's how I still feel inside.

M

Happy Birthday, fel

Mitch · Post by **Mitch** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 7:55 am

Whistlin'Dixie wrote:
Cynth wrote: I was really surprised when I turned 50. No other age had bothered me, I never gave it a second thought. And I didn't think a thing about turning fifty at all until I did. There must have been something in the back of my head about it though because psychologically from that point onward things have just not been the same. It is really the weirdest thing. It's just a number, but for some reason it was a very powerful number for me. It seems to be a sort of realization that it really is too late for some things. A realization that a certain poem means one thing to someone who is twenty and something very different to me. I'd never had that feeling before. And yet I would never ever want to go back and be twenty again. I guess this is just what the journey is about.
I can really relate to this.
I am having real issues about it.
And for the record, I really really DO wish I could go back and be twenty again, since that's how I still feel inside.

M

Happy Birthday, fel

Commiserations Dix, Cynth - I get there next month - funny thing is the thing's you're saying hit me when I turned 40. Nothing wrong with feeling young inside - But I'll take note of your warning about "too late for some things " .. but which ones will I let go of this time? - 'Spose it's cumulative ... Arrg! Never mind - some folks never had a life to remenisce

susnfx · Post by **susnfx** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:03 am

I've never struggled with any age I've been until I turned 50. The year I turned 50 I went into a depression that lasted nearly two years. I made major changes in my life, leaving behind a religion I'd practiced for most of my life. I'll be 54 next month and although I am no longer severely depressed by aging, the realization that it's too late for many things is extremely powerful and I've had to not allow myself to dwell on or even think about all I've missed out on and will never experience in my life. There are lots of things I can do; I'm active, content, and I really try to enjoy my life, but it can be very bittersweet at times.

Susan

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:12 am

Whistlin'Dixie wrote:
Cynth wrote: I was really surprised when I turned 50. No other age had bothered me, I never gave it a second thought. And I didn't think a thing about turning fifty at all until I did. There must have been something in the back of my head about it though because psychologically from that point onward things have just not been the same. It is really the weirdest thing. It's just a number, but for some reason it was a very powerful number for me. It seems to be a sort of realization that it really is too late for some things. A realization that a certain poem means one thing to someone who is twenty and something very different to me. I'd never had that feeling before. And yet I would never ever want to go back and be twenty again. I guess this is just what the journey is about.
I can really relate to this.
I am having real issues about it.
And for the record, I really really DO wish I could go back and be twenty again, since that's how I still feel inside.

M

Happy Birthday, fel

The twenties weren't such a great time for me I think so that's why I don't want to go back. If I could knowing what I know now, maybe. It actually makes me feel better just knowing someone else is having the same weird problems, although I'm sorry you are. I'm sure there must be some really long German word for these feelings---they certainly deserve one. It would be some kind of schmerz I guess.

Cynth · Post by **Cynth** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:32 am

It takes me so long to write a response that I hadn't seen Mitch's and susfnx's posts. "Bittersweet" seems to be a pretty good word for the feeling. I feel that I'm a better person than I was when I was young, and I am glad for that---okay, okay, I'm not saying I'm great

. Yet seeing a crowd of students marching into college graduation just pierces my heart almost unbearably. If it hit you when you turned forty, Mitch, then maybe you've dealt with it already. Oddly, the things it seems to be too late for aren't really things I would have necessarily done. It's just the idea that I don't really have the choice I think.

hyldemoer · Post by **hyldemoer** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 8:52 am

One of the short comings I can see about even mentioning the "perks of being over 50" is that it is excuses based on assumptions.

Subscribing to any of them is like buying into a culture of disabilities.

During my years spent interpreting for the Deaf (some Deaf & blind or Deaf with Cerebral palsy) I know well the difference between having a disability and being challenged.

The passing of a year has never saddened me.
When my hair started turning grey I was torn between understanding what it meant negatively in Asian medical terms
and the comfort of how much respect I'd now be favored with by younger people who were raised properly.

In 45 years I'll be 100 years old.
I'll let you all know if my opinion changes in the process of getting there.

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:08 am

Good thread. It's nice to read other folks responses to turning 50. I've got 3 years to go but the thought has been daunting. Plus I have some other stuff going on behind the scenes that doesn't make it any easier.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:14 am

Whistlin'Dixie wrote:
Cynth wrote: I was really surprised when I turned 50. No other age had bothered me, I never gave it a second thought. And I didn't think a thing about turning fifty at all until I did. There must have been something in the back of my head about it though because psychologically from that point onward things have just not been the same. It is really the weirdest thing. It's just a number, but for some reason it was a very powerful number for me. It seems to be a sort of realization that it really is too late for some things. A realization that a certain poem means one thing to someone who is twenty and something very different to me. I'd never had that feeling before. And yet I would never ever want to go back and be twenty again. I guess this is just what the journey is about.
I can really relate to this.
I am having real issues about it.
And for the record, I really really DO wish I could go back and be twenty again, since that's how I still feel inside.

M

Happy Birthday, fel

It's funny the casual remarks that people make that turn into insights about life.

One day (around 1990) I was sitting with my grandmother, who was in her mid-nineties at the time. She was quite frail. I forget what we were doing, but she said to me "I look out and the colors are just as bright as when I was 20 yrs old!" I realized that this wrinkled little woman saw the world through the eyes of a 20 yr old. She died a few years later. As I've thought about that off-hand remark, I realize that no matter what happens to the outside of me, the me looking out can be many different ages. Sometimes I get to pick the age I want to be, sometimes I have no say in the matter. Most times it's fun and sometimes it's awesomely embarrassing.

I.D.10-t · Post by **I.D.10-t** » Tue Jun 06, 2006 10:23 am

I have to do math to figure out how old I am. I have a ballpark estimate, I cannot run for president, but I can rent a car.