I will never be an old man. To me, old age is always 15 years older than I am. Francis Bacon
More and more of my writing exists to inspire and encourage others to live with purpose, to push their boundaries and make the most of life . Particularly when the clock is speeding away, and the years are passing by.
I’ll be honest, two months ago I would have said age doesn’t matter, it’s just a number. But I have woken up to the fact that it really does. If you spend time on an old people’s ward and saw the depressing way life can turn out, as I have been doing the last 9 weeks, you’d begin to understand the pain and sorrow that old age can bring, you wouldn’t be able to help yourself be affected. You would determine for yourself that you won’t end up incapable and incontinent as the years are passing by.
I’m 51 years old and will be 52 in June. Rachel today is at work and has been working so hard organising a birthday party for one of her members. The party is today and the birthday girl is 100 years old. What a momentous occasion. And I hope everyone takes in what a rare moment they are privileged to share and the lady herself has a fantastic day.
I believe the oldest person to live was recorded as 122. According to the Guinness World of Records her name was Jeanne Louise Calment a French lady who lived till she was 122 years and 164 days.
The average age we live to is for men 78.2 and women 82.3. These are figure’s for the country I live in, England. I must admit I find these figure’s a little scary. The years are passing by to quickly for my liking.
According to these statistics I have 27 years left to live. Mind you my dad is 85 and apart from aches and pains he still has his marbles and mobility. So there’s hope for me still.
But part of me now is very focused on living the last part of my life in the best possible way. I want to retain my health, my mind and I want to enjoy every minute that I have left in my life.
When I get to my last day there are two things I want. The first is that until my last breath I have both mind and body where I’m capable of doing anything I want to do which would include writing a blog and going to the gym, as well as being able to communicate properly and show my love to my children and grandchildren. It upsets me so much that my mother can’t utter more than a few words, and it’s rare to hear a sentence coming from her mouth.
Secondly I want to be able to reflect back over my life and be proud of what I’ve done, my achievements and my contribution. I also want to see that from age 50 I led a remarkable life wasting no time and not allowing myself to just go with the wind I want to ensure I make that time special.
To get the most out of my future in these my aging years I’ll ask myself these questions:
- Why is being over 50 going to be the best time of my life?
- Am I staying engaged with the world and the people I care about?
- Am I taking care of my body, mind and spirit?
- Am I making “me” a priority?
- Am I in control of my finances?
- Am I having fun?
- What legacy will I leave?
Let me be honest with you. I don’t feel old, and don’t feel that life is over, in fact, I think that life is just beginning. I’m so excited by y future, and if you are 50 plus find what you’re missing so you can feel the same.
Get in control of your life and make the most of it. The years are passing by but that doesn’t mean you need to miss out on doing everything you want.
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My mum also has the same mindset. For her, age is just a number.
Here’s how I think about it: 60 is the new 40. Of course, I just saw that Christie Brinkley is 60 on the cover of a magazine, but in fact I feel better than ever and i am not even 60 yet.. Old is inside, if we decide to live with some other mindset, i think that’s just fine.