Turning 50 and giving the appearance that you are extremely happy about it seems to be the latest rage, avant-garde one might say. Everyone is doing it you know. It is the best club in town.
Our present-day view on age and aging is to show a brave face to the public eye even though your insides shiver, just a little, with the realization that where you currently are in your life might not be what you envisioned in your youth. A person might also wonder if everything they have done before this birthday is all that they will accomplish in their life.
While I welcome this view on aging, in the hopes that ageism and age discrimination will (also) be something written about in the history books and a taboo behavior, this does little to ease the shivering that I feel today.
I am here to tell you this is scary. This is foreign.
In my youth, being 32 was as far into the future as I could see, and today I feel like I am on an uncharted island, surrounded by waters where I never imagined I would find myself swimming. Shall I let these waters cause me to have fear? Perhaps not, after all Mr. Robinson Crusoe managed to live quite comfortably on his uncharted island for many years (we will ignore the part about the cannibals that sometimes visited his nice island).
Many have traveled this milestone path with these same thoughts and they have continued forward towards their most memorable accomplishment. I am 50! I will not preen or gloat overly about this change in my club status. I will not hide under a mask covered with powder and dust, and I will not be a lamenter who bemoans their life situation.
Is there more to come in the years ahead? Absolutely! When I am 70, I will wish I could tell my past self to buckle up and embrace the waters that have caused me to shiver. Every new island will provide me with new adventures and some of the most memorable views.
While I welcome this view on aging, in the hopes that ageism and age discrimination will (also) be something written about in the history books and a taboo behavior, this does little to ease the shivering that I feel today.
I am here to tell you this is scary. This is foreign.
In my youth, being 32 was as far into the future as I could see, and today I feel like I am on an uncharted island, surrounded by waters where I never imagined I would find myself swimming. Shall I let these waters cause me to have fear? Perhaps not, after all Mr. Robinson Crusoe managed to live quite comfortably on his uncharted island for many years (we will ignore the part about the cannibals that sometimes visited his nice island).
Many have traveled this milestone path with these same thoughts and they have continued forward towards their most memorable accomplishment. I am 50! I will not preen or gloat overly about this change in my club status. I will not hide under a mask covered with powder and dust, and I will not be a lamenter who bemoans their life situation.
Is there more to come in the years ahead? Absolutely! When I am 70, I will wish I could tell my past self to buckle up and embrace the waters that have caused me to shiver. Every new island will provide me with new adventures and some of the most memorable views.
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