Middle Age and Happiness

Reading an article about Deborah Hutton embracing her midlife stage as her best and happiest yet got me thinking a bit. It's certainly very positive to have a woman on the cover of a magazine getting some good publicity about turning 53 years of age. It hasn't always been the case that women in their 50s have been noticed, let alone on the front cover of magazines.

There are probably a few points that she makes that I would have to agree with. As we get older we can become more confident in knowing who we are. We might have overcome many challenges during our life and survived them. This helps us to feel empowered, to feel strong and capable. We have left behind the uncertainties of earlier years to reach a point of knowing about ourselves in ways you simply can't until you have some decent life experience behind you.

On the other hand, there's something about getting older that is a bit disturbing. Perhaps we can embrace life in our 50s because we know that we are unlikely to have another 50 years ahead. Knowing that, we learn to make the most of each day, each month, each year. To really achieve the things we want, the things we now know are important to us. This can also leave us feeling a bit panicked at times, a bit overwhelmed by the amount of time that has passed. Overwhelmed by the missed opportunities. Left wondering about the "could have beens" or the "if onlies". What our life might have been like if we'd taken a different path. I sometimes whether we end up close to where we would have anyway, regardless of the exact path we took. For example, I wanted to be a school teacher. I didn't do that, but I ended up working with kids and schools anyway.

There's a different energy we have as we get older. It's not quite as easy to get ourselves out of bed.We notice a few aches and pains. Our eyesight starts to change, leaving us straining to read small print (and sometimes even fairly large print). We start to have more regular health checks because our cholesterol and blood sugar levels might not be coping as well as they did when we were younger. Our waistline gradually starts to extend and our body shape changes, again.

So yes let's embrace middle age. Let's enjoy the knowledge and growth we've made. Let's look to the future we have ahead of us with optimism and excitement. But let's not ignore the changes and the fears as they emerge. Let's be happy, but also be real and honest with each other and ourselves.

#_midlife
#_happiness
#_optimism
#_energy
#_health

%selfavenue