The adage that the numbers don't lie is so true. This is the year I made it to 50. You know the one I'm talking about? The milestone of all milestones is the big 5 0... The numbers alone look intimidating. There are even days when the numbers are completely off. How is that you say? Well, I can easily feel that and more on a not so good day, and then I can feel even less on a great day. It's all in ones perception.
If it's not humiliating enough to know ones age, it's even worse when A.A.R.P. sends out their special card for those of us that have reached "maturity". It reminds me of the excitement one feels when obtaining that all important drivers license. That made so many things in our youth...official. Anticipating the card from The Association for Advancement of Retired Persons (A.A.R.P) only officially announces to the world that one has reached maturity, but on a completely different level so to speak. It's as though we were now closer to an expiration date, as one would expect if the milk soured.
This is a monumental development in ones life. By now, one has sailed through life and garnered a certain amount of knowledge that can only be acquired through living and loving throughout ones life. At this point in ones life, passing on this said knowledge is what others younger than us expect. As if the pressures of everyday living are not enough, we're still expected to have compiled this vast array of life's lessons and be steadfast in dispensing it's meaning to those we love the most.
Numbers don't always mean one has matured. We all know friends or family members that have made it to 50 plus, and are as clueless now as when they arrived. It's as though they missed the boat so to speak. As far as that goes, there are those that couldn't find a boat if they were standing in the New York Harbor. As you're nodding your head or chuckling to yourself, it's understood that these words are true. Been there, done that...
What happened to our bodies? There are aches and pains in places one never knew even existed? As we mature and our bodies mature, one finds themselves in front of more and more doctors, it's like a revolving door. Remember in elementary school when we only had to learn the name of one teacher? Anticipating middle school and high school, we had a new teacher for every subject. It was thought to be so...adult like?
Trying to remember the different names of all of ones physicians, and the reason we have to see them is no longer hip as the old saying goes. It may be hip to be square, but let's not fall and break our hips or anything else for that matter. No need in adding an orthopedic to our list if we can avoid it. If you're Rolodex or cell phone has your many doctors on speed dial or highlighted so they can't be missed, then welcome to middle age.
You've arrived, and arrived in style I may say. The golden years have been a long time coming, but here you are. We probably have a lot less ahead of us, then what we have behind us and that's where one must look at their life and decide...its okay to be middle age. Would you really want to go back and do it all over again? Middle age isn't about regrets and do overs. It's accepting who we are now, and allowing us to define the moment and not the other way around.
In conclusion, ones own definition of middle age may differ from another, but either way, it's the beginning of a brand new life, and it's worth living. We may be a little slower now then we were 20 years ago, and we may have health issues that are brand new to us, but we are still viable people with a wealth of knowledge and wisdom to pass on to the next generation. There is nothing that can ever take that away from us as individuals, and as "middle aged".
What was my natural hair color? Only my mother remembers. Do your teeth go into a jar at the end of the day? Who cares? What matters most is that we are true to ourselves, and true to those we love the most. Anything less is unacceptable. 50 doesn't look so bad, and since my next milestone will be 75...I'll let you know what that's like... In due time.