Mid-Life Reality

[Irish Pennant]

I recently turned 60. For me I think I'm entering a midlife reality. Some may call it a crisis, it's not...yet. I've always been semi active and now know that what I can do today I may not be able to do tomorrow. I have for set myself a goal for this coming spring of hiking a trail that goes around a mountain. The trail is about 41 miles long. I wish I had did this many years ago and did it many times. As of right now, I'm not a picture of physical beauty but I'm working on gaining some endurance.

For those of you that have faced your Mid-Life Reality, your words of wisdom please.

[buddyhu]

Here is a story that I find helpful:

“A farmer came to see the someone who was regarded as a wise teacher because he heard that this man helped many people with their problems. He thought that the teacher might be able to help him. So he told the teacher his problems: too much rain, or not enough; his wife nagged him too much, and he occasionally would tire of her; his kids didn’t show him enough respect. When the farmer finished, he waited for the wise man to speak and ease his life. The teacher said, “I can’t help you. Everybody’s got problems; in fact all of us have eighty-three problems, and there is nothing you can do about it. If you work really hard on one of them, maybe you’ll fix it, but almost immediately another one will pop up in its place. For example, you’re going to lose your family someday, and you’re going to die someday. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do about it.” The man, now agitated, asked, “What good is your teaching then?” The teacher said, “Maybe the teaching will help you with the eighty-fourth problem.” “What’s that?” the farmer asked. “Well,” said the teacher , “you want to not have any problems. That’s the eighty-fourth problem.”

[Mr. Jelly]

I have no wisdom.

At 65 I got the "old person" talk at the doctors the other day. I never knew there was such a thing. There is. And they are correct. Quit and/or cut back on the stuff you know you shouldn't be eating or doing. Get more exercise. Basically start trying to be more healthy. It's not a given anymore.

I had to give up going on mountain hikes with my children. I will do it alone though. They can climb mountains allot fasted than I and bounce back allot faster. I figured that out a year ago when my son in-law pulled out a can of oxygen for me. I had this thought that a steep mountain trail was not a good place for a heart issue to show up.

[RP]

When I was in my 30s, I mountain biked all over Virginia and wrote a book about it. I put on weight, laid off the bike, and at 68 am a vestige of my former self. Today I rode my bicycle on the boardwalk at Virginia Beach and enjoyed the heck out of it. My words of wisdom are to appreciate the things you can do today, and not bemoan that you can no longer do the things from yesterday. As Chad & Jeremy once sang, "But that was yesterday....and yesterday's gone...."

[srick]

My wisdom for you is to always look forward to something and always be open to learning new things. I started guitar at age 53 and 12 years later am only partway to where I want to be. There’s so much more to do.

And then, when adversity comes, you need to be nimble and dance with it. Accept the issue and then try to move through it. If you think about it, this is the way life has always been - you could have become disabled, experienced loss or died at age 25... but it didn’t happen. Statistics indicate it’s more likely now, but on an individual level, statistics are meaningless.

Good luck on your path!

Rick

[Bob Womack]

Ecclesiastes, via the Byrds: "For everything, there is a season." There are things about this time of life that are better than any of the preceding ages. That's good because of some of the great problems that show up.

Electrical problems in the heart show up right about now. All that health crap you ignored shows up, or at least the results of ignoring it show up. Your crowns and fillings only last so long and they start coming due about now. It's hard to take off weight or put on muscle.

But the nice thing is that there are a whole lot of people who've gone through this before you. Are you aware that until recently people thought mid-life ENDED at about 55-60, instead of starting then? True. True. We are living long enough that the social security system is in jeopardy.

Do a Google search on Desiderata. If you haven't already, have a family and kids who can take care of you when you retire at 75. Pretty soon you aren't going to want to climb into the attic to repair your heat pump upper box yourself. Gonna need a kid to call.

But seriously, I'm staring down the same trail myself. You just have to have a great mate beside you and try to get some of the crap you want to do done before this happens:



Bob

[catdaddy]

Get enough sleep, exercise aerobically 5 times per week for a minimum of 30 minutes, and eat no processed or fast foods (prepare your own meals).

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

I recently turned 60. For me I think I'm entering a midlife reality. Some may call it a crisis, it's not...yet. I've always been semi active and now know that what I can do today I may not be able to do tomorrow. I have for set myself a goal for this coming spring of hiking a trail that goes around a mountain. The trail is about 41 miles long. I wish I had did this many years ago and did it many times. As of right now, I'm not a picture of physical beauty but I'm working on gaining some endurance.

For those of you that have faced your Mid-Life Reality, your words of wisdom please.

Right behind you I have noticed the past year has made it impossible to beat some records I made in the past few but I'm still exercising, doing a lot, 5'10" in size 32 pants that get too big mid-summer through fall.

Just keep doing stuff, exercising and eating well. You need to exercise the brain too. Try a bike if hiking or running are too hard on you.

At my 40th high school reunion I was shocked at how some let themselves deteriorate but encouraged by how well some were doing. You can still do a lot at our age. Maybe try something in a new circle of people for a boost?

Try nudge technology. What that Apple Watch or a good fitness tracker does really makes a difference for many.

Good luck.

[brad2001]

Yes, as class reunions go we hear of those who have passed. I'm coming up on 45th reunion in a couple of years and expect to get the news about who didn't make it. Even now a very close old friend of mine is in his last days at home on hospice, cancer has ravaged him, it's heartbreaking.

[frazervalley]

That is excellent, kudos to you Imwjl. But be honest, is your excellent weight management because your mom is a lousy cook?

[DCCougar]

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

....The trail is about 41 miles long.....

Uh, no need to overdo it. Play golf a couple times a week.

[AmericanEagle]

I’m having a real mid-life crisis.
I am finding it difficult to be really happy.
It seems my best years are behind me, and even they weren’t that great.
I am physically healthy, but have struggled for decades with anxiety.
That probably is part of it.

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

Mid-Life Reality ..... I recently turned 60.

So, I take it you plan on living to around 120 years old? Let us know how that turns out (well, perhaps not all of us ).

[Irish Pennant]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

So, I take it you plan on living to around 120 years old? Let us know how that turns out (well, perhaps not all of us ).

Some odd million years ago I heard that cancer from smoking and other things takes about 30 years to manifest. If I wait until I'm 90 to start smoking, drinking and chasing sweet young things again, I think I can make it until I'm 120 before my health takes a down turn....that is if my old school math is right....LOL.

[frazervalley]

Just did a quick Google search and midlife for a US male is 39 years of age (based on 2015 statistics). So you can add or subtract a few years for your current health status. We are approximately the same age, so this is not a surprise to me. I have been telling my friends my hourglass is about 3/4 empty and this guides what activities I participate in and who I choose as my associates.

I may as well make this portion of my life be of the best quality that it can be.
This is my philosophy and it makes sense to me.