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I sport graying temples and my hairline has backed up a couple of inches in the past fifteen years. I don't believe I'll become bald, for at 48 I most likely would have by now. This isn't to say that I may end up with that Jack Nicholson widow's peak in a few more years. So be it.

My muscles and joints ache more than they used to following repetitive activities such as loading trucks; especially when it is cold and damp outside. Coworkers who are twenty-plus years my junior are much stronger and don't wear out as fast. But I was never athletically inclined anyway.

I still have a tendency to eat the same stuff as I did when in my teens. As a result, I now carry Rolaids with me wherever I go. Some foods wreak havoc in the bowel area, but hey, it still tastes good. I voluntarily take one 81 mg tablet of aspirin every day to reduce my risk of heart attack from my diet,lack of exercise, and my 2-pack-a-day smoking habit. It couldn't hurt. Other than that, I don't pay much attention to all the propaganda of health warnings associated with lifestyles. I'm banking on being one of those people like Burgess Meredith's character in the Grumpy Old Men movies made in the 1990's. He was 95 years old, ate a pound of bacon a day, drank beer, and smoked Camel straights.

I suspect that are are a lot more people in real life like this than the media would have us believe, and as a consequence, I'll do what I want. The way I see it is that in forty years, what will it matter?

Now here is where I am most aware of having joined the ranks of the middle-aged: Socializing with people in their twenties can be a challenge. They go out and party as much as possible and find it amusing to recall how "wasted" someone got the previous night. If single, they brag of nightly sexual conquests, while people my age are lucky to indulge at the frequency of the changing of the seasons. They speak of musical groups we've never heard of. In most cases, a two decade age difference makes conversation seem like a totally alien encounter.

I've seen those who are unwilling to accept that they have reached middle age. They try to look and act younger. Most of the time, it becomes quite ridiculous, for these individuals are not nor will ever be in their twenties again. I admittedly miss some of the freedom associated with being younger, but when taking it all into consideration, I am happy to be where I'm at in life. I've acquired the experience and wisdom that can only be realized by the passage of time.

It has been said that when you can remember when your parents were younger than you are now, you've reached the milestone known as middle age. Let it come and embrace it.

Learn more about this author, Patrick Sills.
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