Isn’t it funny how people react to different numbers. 30 didn’t bother me, nor did 35, but for some reason, at 37, it suddenly hit me I was an adult - a real, honest-to-goodness adult! What’s weirder is by that time I was married with a 5-y/o daughter, and I’d bought my 5th house, having sold the first 4, and who knows how many cars.
Then the feeling passed and I got on with it. The only other birthday worth mentioning was 45 - that was the year my eyes started turning to crap and I got my first trifocals. But in the grand scheme of things, it’s really just a number and it means only as much as you permit it to mean. You can’t reverse it, so I say just go with it!
I’ll be 61 in October. I don’t feel old especially but there are parts of me which don’t work as well as I’d like.
I was talking to a man today whose mother died two days ago. He was appropriately upset at losing her, especially as her death was so sudden. She was 65. Suddenly I do feel old.
Someone once told me that whatever age you are now, in ten years you’ll wish you were that young again! I try to keep that in mind and enjoy the now and not think of age. 35 wasn’t my hard year but 40 was. I was pretty shaken up for a couple of years but am feeling much happier now.
This was going to be approximately what I was going to say, except for the numbers. I turned 35 37 years ago, so even that is too far back to remember well. That’s one of the good things, I believe.
To rob a line from The Way We Were
We’re both in the middle of being taytantos. From 3x to 9x, it’s all (something)taytantos in Spanish, so anybody over 30 who doesn’t want to give their exact age or whose exact age isn’t known by the speaker gets to be taytantos.
Not sure if this will console you any,** Foxtrot**, but at 35 I wasn’t a homeowner, was divorced with two young kids and had no idea about where I was supposed to be at this point in my life. I did know it wasn’t supposed to be where I was. I’m 46 now, my boys are almost both out the door starting their adult lives, I have a house and I’ve remarried. One of my best friends turns 50 next year and he has a two year old in the house.
40 was my big anxiety year, FWIW. If there are things that you haven’t done, start planning to do them! The days are still long, but the years are short!
My 30s weren’t so great. Terrible, really. My 40s are off to a bitchin’ start, so we’re all good
Relax. There’s plenty of time to freak the fuck out when you’re older… and by then, you’ll have either mellowed out, or Alzheimers will have kicked in and you won’t care.
I was at my physical and mental peak at 35 YO. Then I blew out my knee running.
However I finished started and finished a master’s degree by time I was 42 YO. I also gained a good number of promotions.
Then I had a little heart attack at 46 YO while racing my bicycle…
Well if you can’t be fast, you can be persistent. I started getting into long distance events like 12 and 24-hour races. My best was 228 miles when I was 51 YO. I also changed careers and now make very good money.
I’ve also been married 38 years which is difficult to do when you are only 35 YO. I also have great kids and 3 grandchildren.
I turned 60 YO a couple of months ago and still feel young. I ride over 4,000 miles a year and do a half marathon or two also. I could retire with full SSAN in 6 years, but I still enjoy working. I feel and act more like a 40 YO or at least that’s my self image. Maybe I’m deluding myself, but that can be a good thing.
You’re only young once, but you can be immature anytime.
Meh. It’s an arbitrary concept based upon the amount of time it takes for the Earth to orbit the Sun. Of course most of us only get about 75 to 85 orbits, but still.
Hey old guy, I won’t be 70 for another 18 months, I’m still a kid, sitting here on the beach of the Dominican Republic living on the Social Security that I worked for for 44 years. Love it.
It bugged me a little when I turned a billion seconds old. I wasn’t old enough to remember turning 100 million seconds, and I won’t live to be 10 billion. One billion (about 31.7 years) is the only order of magnitude I remember and both of us have shot right past that.
