Not only is it ominously 2:02 on 02-20-2020, but I’m writing to you from the very precipice of age. I turned a half-century-old recently. And it’s not like it snuck up on me, Snidely Whiplash style, and tied me to the railroad tracks as the locomotive of death chugged menacingly toward me.
I felt it coming in the creaking of my right knee. And in the chest x-ray that came back with “degeneration of lower vertebrae” and my doctor shrugging and saying “Meh, you’re 50.”
So, what is FIFTY like? I feel like I spend a lot of time measuring the expenditure of effort against the potential benefit, weighing the importance of results by the amount of work needed to get them. I’m trying to get as much bang for my buck out of anything I possibly can. Do I go to my friend’s dance party and have drinks and social? Well, given that it’s possible to have x amount of fun with y amount of preparation. As long as y isn’t going to take more than 15 minutes, it is worth doing, to get x amount out of it. I do algebra all the time!
At 50, I’ve learned how to prioritize and let myself off the hook. Does my house have to be spotless for $bestfriend visiting? As spotless as when the landlord is coming, or a new friend? Can I let $bestfriend see my house at this stage and not suffer internally? Is taking a nap more important than furiously cleaning? The answer is easy: if you can nap with a clear conscience, do that.
Fifty is ambitiously putting all the things on the calendar you want to do, and hoping like hell you can get to some of those, but realizing that you probably will miss 25-50% because of family/illness/exhaustion/don’t wanna — and being OK with setting those expectations.
It’s accepting the fact that your knees are a bad design for weathering time, and learning how to make choices for their longevity. I could take chances and try to ride that skateboard. Show that kid how to do it. But if I fall on my knee, I’m on crutches–best case scenario. OR I’ll need surgery and one-level living. So, there are body parts getting noticeably . . . worn. Being aware of this and starting to be at least cognizant of how you move about the world and make choices about what you do — that’s the wisdom of age.
Turning 50 as a person who has teeth is somewhat horrifying. Those years of blowing off flossing are now catching up. Even regular, twice-yearly cleanings lead to disappointed hygienists who tsk tsk you for not taking better care of your gums. It’s not enough to run the Sonicare over your teeth in the two days preceding your cleaning and make your hygienist happy. Now they actually want to involve the periodontist, do surgical things, re-do crowns. It’s getting expensive to maintain a mouth full of teeth.
So, what about mental health at 50? Because I’ve been through some shit, and I’ve learned the importance of therapy and sorting out my PTSD, learning how to go easier on myself and others through the work with a mental health professional, I’m actually in pretty good shape mentally/emotionally. If it doesn’t appear so because you learn from me or someone close to me that I am out of cope, or suffering in some way, it’s because I’ve chosen to begin sharing my journey, an experience of trusting others that’s still new to me.
I’m also more flexible in my thinking. I can allow myself to have multiple conflicting emotions simultaneously and still be OK! I can foresee complications in plans and thwart discomfort by being prepared. Like, what happens if Snidely Whiplash comes along and ties me to the railroad tracks! Always pack a knife in your purse! I mean, that’s a metaphor for emotional stuff. But still, you really should always pack a knife. I always have at least one knife on me at all times!
Being 50 means I care less about what people think of me. Last year I decided I was done investing so much care and time into having my hair long and brown, in an attempt to hold on to what I thought was beautiful about me. I stopped–after more than 20 years–dying my hair brown, and I let it go gray. Then in July, I just cut it all off, down to a pixie-like length. It’s fantastic.
I keep waiting to blame stuff on being 50. I’m ready to blurt out “Dude. I’m 50!” But it’s not working out so far. For instance, I can still outrun all 3 of my kids. It’s not that I’m faster. It’s that I last longer and am more stubborn. I’m better at knowing my boundaries, so instead of blaming my inability to do something on age, I instead choose not to do the thing!
Last, coming up on 50 means thinking about a list of things you want to get to, and that’s an experience that suggests there are more years behind you than ahead. It’s staring you straight in the face, that no one gets out of this thing called life, alive. So if you want to ride a motorcycle in the Pride Parade with Dykes on Bikes, you better get your license and start making that happen! You want to go on that experiential ride through slow winding roads, just for the journey? Buy the motorcycle!
Being a person on the other side of 50 means having a list of physical accomplishments you want to attempt. Walk more of the Appalachian Trail. Train for a multiple-day bike trip. Stop thinking of physical exercise as a race you have to win. If you want to do the triathlon, sign up for it! Train for it! And know you aren’t going to be competitive. You are in it to finish it. Kind of like… life? Right?
As this milestone year chugs along, I’ll post more about aging, and about being 50. But so far, using my somewhat morbid but — I hope — darkly humorous rating scale of grave stones, I’m rating “Turning 50” so far as a 3.5 out of 5 gravestones experience. Things could be better, and at the same time so much worse. I’m happy for the years I’ve been around, and as I creep toward the inevitability of death, I’m grateful for the time I’ve had.