WHAT IS OLD 50, 60, 70?

by Matuschka Lindo

Whatever it is I'm not there yet! My father travels the country playing softball for a 70 and over team. I don't even look at him and think old. My mother never ever lets that word cross her lips. Maybe that's why I scratch my head when people in their 40'as and 50's are always saying they are OLD? I bring this up because I had another birthday last week and I inched ever closer to 50. What does that mean exactly? Some people feel once they hit 50 they are 'Old'. That's a scary thought to me... why? I still feel 21 inside most days. It varies really, are we talking physically or mentally. HA!  Yes, I have aches and pains but I've had fewer broken bones than when I was in my 30's. In my late 20's when I had kids my hair fell out. I have healthier hair now even though there is more gray. Who says when you are old? And when do you go from 'Old' to 'Elderly'. Elderly sounds awful to me… it will take a lot of chutzpah to call me elderly! We need a new word for older than old. Senior? Advanced Age?  What do you think? I'm in better shape than I've been in years? Will I really feel 'Old' just because I hit 50? Thankfully in most recent survey's people believe  'Old Age' begins at 69! Wooohoooo! "Push it back, Push it back  Wayyyyyy Back!"

My theory is that we feel old for two reasons. One, a generational gap between the millennium generation (or any generation younger than you). Secondly, the constant changes in our body as we age that we don't like so much. For me, the things that differ between us are awesome!  I love to go to the basement and throw an 8 track at my teenagers and say "Hey what's this?" I usually do things like that when I can't figure out how to do something on the computer and they demonstrate to me as if I am a two year old! It's called equalizing in the Briggs house. They catch on real quick too! Both my kids believe music from our reel to reel is better than from a cd! Also they are both appreciating vinyl after I show them how good you have to be to replay a song over and over. It's all in the wrist, the way you drop that needle baby. They'll thank me later vinyl is making a come back. I just want them to know, there is a lot I know too… that they don't! Making me wiser not old in their eyes! The best revenge is listening to music with them in the car and the new 'IN' band introduces their latest hit and my young adults are singing their hearts out. Then I break into song KNOWING EVERY WORD! You guessed it remake! Love it when that happens, they have this dumbfounded look like… Wait you know this song? Ya punk I do! I knew it before you were born! Here are 50 things only people around 50 or over understand! 

Where was I? Lost my train of thought. I am older this week heee. Oh yes, the second reason we tend to feel old, the ever changing and aging body. You know… your birth age and your biological age don't always coincide. Another reason not to fall into the I'm old trap. You could be younger than you think! Take a Biological Age Quiz by Clicking HERE. No wonder I don't feel old, my biological age is 28! SWEAR! It's an interesting quiz and takes only 2 minutes but goes through what you eat, how you sleep and how stressed you are etc. Which makes me a firm believer that 50 is nowhere close to old. Now if you don't take care of yourself, old may very well be in your near future. Either make a change or feel old. It's up to you. Besides if 69 is the new old, do you really want to go through 20 years of your life saying, "I'm old" as early as 50?  What the hell are you going to say when you're 69 and you really are entering old age? Everything I read throws middle age between 45-65 so drop the 'Old' and enjoy the blessings of a likely life expectancy beyond 80. Plato is now wrong in his definition of Advanced Age.

The Official Definition of Old Age:
Old age comprises "the later part of life; the period of life after youth and middle age . . . , usually with reference to deterioration" In the 4th century BC, Plato divided the human lifespan into six phases, the last two constituting "Old Age" (the ages of 62-79) and "Advanced Age" (80-). The last phase, he noted, "is one that, fortunately, few attain."

*Above Photo by Acid Cow

Keep looking forward so you don't miss what God puts in front of ya!

Matuschka's Midlife... Telling it like it is...