I always thought the “golden years” thing was just a euphemism, like “70 years young”. It didn’t occur to me that this commonly accepted as a normal expectation, and I remain skeptical.
I disagree with this. A lot of people look back at their childhoods with fond memories, but I don’t see that kids are any happier than adults, on average.
I think what happens is that adults are consumed with their own adult issues so they look back wistfully at a time before they had such concerns. But what they don’t appreciate is that kids have their own issues that trouble them. Those kid issues don’t seem like much to adults worried about career and relationship issues and the like, but they loom very large to the kids themselves.
What is true is that kids tend to focus on things to the exclusion of all else more than adults. That means when a kid is happy, even about some small thing, their hearts get filled with joy to a greater extent than adults who have all sorts of other worries in the back of their minds. But that cuts both ways. A kid can get sadder abount a small thing to a greater extent than an adult too.
I’m 68 and definitely think of my present situation as my “golden years”. Have been happily married for over 35 years, have two great kids and two (soon to be three) fantastic grand-kids, am retired with no money worries, play lots of sports (golf, bowling, curling**),…
Sure, my ophthalmologist tells me that I have the beginning of cataracts, I’ve got Tinnitus (will somebody answer that damned phone?), my knees ache, and sometimes my back goes out. So what? Aches and pains are part of being alive and active.
I wouldn’t go back to being a child or teenager for anything. If I could have back the body I had at, say, 35, I’d do that, but I would not want to go back to the life I had then.
I’m 70, and in my case if there were a golden age, it was over at 69. Literally overnight with no warning, I became an invalid, living with excruciating pain and disability. The only comparable thing in my experience was the loss of hundreds of friends and lovers in the '80s, due to AIDS.
My husband does what he can to keep me going, but I know I’m not making it easy for him.
The moral: Don’t assume that your current situation will continue as you age, that you’ll simply slow down, but remain physically or mentally intact. Life has a way of throwing a wrench into the best of plans. If you are happy with your current life, then your Golden Age is NOW.
No, you’ll probably die. Sorry, but I’ve seen it firsthand. Once my father was part a certain point he wasn’t in good enough health to get into good health.
My grandmother was in an old folks’ home for quite a few years, and my fiancee’s grandmother is in one now. You know who doesn’t live there? Fat people. They’re all dead by that age. Smokers are rather significantly underrepresented as well. If you live like shit, you die pretty early on in retirement age, if you make it that far.
Childhood and retirement for me in common have the lack of depending on a FORTY FUCKING hour a week schedule. The times in my life when I was an adult but had semi- or un- employment were the happiest times in my life. It was chemical, not some abstract thing: when I am not working more than 20 hours a week something changes in my brain chemistry that makes me happier. So if I were to be able to semi-retire, I, as a person, would be objectively happier. Who knows if that would make up for the lack of health and upcoming death that comes with aging.
That sucks. It is my understanding that smoking and obesity both cause you to likely die in your 70s, while non-obese non-smokers usually make it to their 80s.
I’ve seen factory works and people who worked physically demanding jobs their whole lives, and for them there is no recovery because their joints, bones and muscles are all screwed up.
However what is to stop a person from quitting smoking, losing weight, eating healthy and exercising at age 65 and seeing the benefits 10-20 years down the road? Much of the health damage from smoking goes away after a few years, doesn’t the same apply to other lifestyle factors?
No, not really. If you have been obese for forty years, the strain on your heart and your joints caused over that period is a historical fact with consequences that cannot be erased. Yes, your health (and life expectancy) can certainly be improved through lifestyle changes, but not to the point where you have the health and life expectancy of someone who has never been obese.
My ‘golden years’ were my 40s. I was still healthy, I had attained the point in my career that I had aimed to achieve - where I had actual influence and say in how the business was run, my kids were occasionally obnoxious teenagers, but for the most part were doing well and it had become clear that they were going to become quality adults, and I looked and felt younger than my age. It wasn’t the traditional concept of golden years, which I’d always interpreted as being that time of life when you’d become who you were, achieved what you were going to achieve, no longer had to work like a maniac, could enjoy travel and your grandchildren, and could get off the hamster wheel of modern life a bit.
Live life like everyday could be your last. Time is the only thing you can never get back. Years ago I believed the golden years were suppose to be the years after you retired and were free and had enough money to do what you wanted. But that is not so these days. A lot of people had their pensions taken away, the adult children are back home and you are probably skimping money just to pay the bills. In my case illness has made my golden age into coal. I never smoked a day in my life and I have COPD. SO cannot do much here. Like I said live life like as if you are already in your golden age if you are doin ggood, because it might not get better then it is.
I’m 57 and my life is the best it’s ever been. I’m in good health (I’m good for another 50-and-change as far as I can tell), I have finally established successful relationships, I’m back to pursuing my main life goal and this time I’ve got the patience and experience while still having the energy and determination to pursue it, I’ve got dependable income and a comfortable day to day lifestyle with no economic worries, I’m on good terms with my family in all directions and just got to hold my grandnephew. I’m back to having music in my life these last few years, and writing, and I’m happy with my overall life trajectory.