By Mavis Fodness
Someone likens the feeling of turning 50 to that of a youth mastering riding a bike without training wheels.
Remember the feeling of freedom and independence?
That feeling has been building inside me for the past half century. It becomes official on Saturday. I will be 50.
But what does that mean exactly?
Turning 50 is not a new phenomenon. People have turned 50 before and there will certainly be people turning 50 after me.
But, for me, I feel different. Much like that moment of mastery of riding a bike. Free of the training wheels of the first 50 years, I feel I could go the next 50 without any problem.
I have already begun to feel the change that comes with age. I am looking forward to the second 50.
The first part of my life was devoted to doing the traditional events in life: high school graduation, college graduation, marriage, career, and children. These events have become been-there-done-that. As I look at life after 50, the road appears to be wide open.
What should I do with the second half of my life?
A college friend of mine asked that very question several months ago. She is now 50.
The responses she received centered on a central theme: Continue to live your passions and fall away from things that get in the way.
Fifty should not be looked at as old but having accumulated enough knowledge to live more seriously than you take yourself. That’s some pretty sound advice.
It means I should find myself laughing more, being more spontaneous and, as I have already found myself, enjoying a slower pace in life.
I control my time now. No more running after kids, driving to hundreds of events, constantly being on the move.
I already find myself enjoying the peace and quiet of home, especially sharing an evening with just my husband and myself. It’s a good feeling.
To keep that good feeling going, health has become a recent focus of mine (and my husband Bryan), especially in trying not to consume so many calories. My goal is to keep the 100-pound gap in our weights. So far, he is definitely the better loser, of weight, that is.
I found the recent supper of chicken strips and fries added 3 pounds overnight. It’s safe to say at age 50 I won’t be deviating from smaller meal portions and skipping the fruits and vegetables very often. My goal is to feel good to be able to stay more active.
There is a category in the senior Olympics for participants aged 100 and older. I think it would be cool if one of those participants could be me.
Someone wrote many of us fear aging when we should embrace it.
Being 50 is not the end of the road. Instead view it as the start of a new life, one in which we feel comfortable with who we are. Instead of retreating from the world, we should embrace our place within it.
That’s a healthy way of thinking. If I have a goal to live to be age 100, I have a lot more living to do.
As 50 year olds, we have accumulated the wisdom of a half-century, but only if we remember where we left those bicycles.