You can’t help getting older, but you don’t have to get old

There are no lists for “50 over 50”. No celebrations for being the first or largest or newest anything achieved after 50. At this point, you should have it figured out. Settled. If you aren’t the CEO of something, we’d prefer you not be seen nor heard. Yet here I am.

There is no denying am I past whatever milestones “we” consider important or significant. But I still feel like I’m discovering who I am and what I am capable of. I am 50 years old today. And no, I swear this isn’t a ploy to get wishes, just a honest message to anyone out there who is stressed about time - or the lack therefore

The narrative we accept is that youth is worth exalting. Inexperience and passion are more valuable than knowledge and expertise. Yet at some undefined point you (everyone single one of you) will slide away from the spotlight of praise for every achievement, to where your age becomes a shame. A pity. Even convincing yourself that it’s bullshit, and it is, there is no denying the tick tick ticking of time. But here’s the thing, I am so much more assured, confident, happy, relaxed, than I was when I was young.

Don’t think for a second that getting older means there is less to look forward to, less to strive for, less to learn. I’d much rather look forward with the accumulated perspective of age, than scrambling backwards to relive and revive the peaks of life from decades ago. Celebrate the journey: the wrong directions, the dead ends, the steep inclines, the obstacles, the new paths you forge. Those take time. And they are worth it.