- The View: You finally get to see what’s on the other side of the hill. (Unfortunately, you can’t go back if you don’t like it.)
- Impunity: Now that you’ve reached the milestone yourself, you can tease others without fear of “just-wait-‘til-it’s-your-turn” reprisals.
- The Fashion Police: You’ve earned the right to ignore them. Ha!
- Aching joints and muscles: Finally, you can get out of yard work without guilt. You know how bad raking and show shoveling are for your back, so stop the suffering and hire a teenager . Then sit back and peruse an article on the benefits of glucosamine and chondroitin while someone else does the heavy lifting.
- Reading Glasses: (for those of us who aren’t already wearing bifocals) Who doesn’t love an excuse to wear some bling? And if those stylish beaded necklaces aren’t your thing, you an excuse to buy every style in the display, so you can keep a pair handy in every room. Don’t forget a pair for the car too—the type on restaurant menus gets smaller every year!
- Memory loss: You no longer remember anything about the books you were forced to read in high school, or the awful movies you’ve been forced to watch, or that awkward party where [never mind], or that lecture by that obnoxious speaker you hated, or the current location of your car keys, or …
- Wrinkles: The sooner you give up trying to look like a twenty-something, and accept that you’re old enough to have wrinkles—and maybe even (gasp!) grey hair—the happier you will be. Who needs all that stress? Rock the wrinkles and pretend you’re as wise as you look.
- Ignorance: Don’t know the difference between a meme and a vine? Not sure how to tweet on Twitter or pin on Pinterest? Fear not. You’ve survived half a century without this knowledge, you can live another fifty without bothering to learn. Go listen to an LP on the Hi-Fi instead. (I bet all those media-savvy twenty-year-olds can’t do that.)
- Confidence: After fifty years of decision-making practice, you’ve made enough mistakes, and survived them, to realize that most decisions aren’t as life-shaking as you once thought. You don’t need to sweat the small stuff anymore. (You have other reasons to sweat these days.)
- Life: Hey, you made it this far, and your life expectancy is better now than it was at 20, or even 40. So live on, focusing on what really matters, and enjoy the journey on the other side of the hill.
Anne Law says
Truisms … every one .!!
Love the new look !!! Where’s the Gray hair ???
admin says
That’s the great thing about being blonde, there may be gray hairs hiding in there, but you can’t find them. Either that or I just have good anti-aging DNA.
Carol K says
Funny, when researching whether to put Emma in school early they never mentioned one of the biggest advantages to being younger than all your school peers. You get to give them a hard time about turning 50 when you still have a big fat 4 in front of your age. Happy Birthday! Enjoy the other side of the hill.
admin says
Just you wait! You’re day will come. (And I hope Charles organizes a big party so everyone can give you suitable grief.)
Tess says
Totally agree with the blonde hair not showing the grey. Blends in beautifully. Had to laugh because the benefits are so true. Been over that hill for some time now and it’s really not too bad.
admin says
Glad to hear the view on this side of the hill is good. Looking forward to a long journey on this side, glad it’ll be all downhill. 🙂