Is Fifty All That Nifty?

If 50 is the new 30, I have a few complaints.

While I won’t hit the big 5-0 for another one year, three months, six days, nine hours and three minutes (give or take a few seconds), the anticipation has been welling up along with the size of my waistline and hips.

I don’t fit into size 6 jeans anymore, drive a Nissan Pulsar with a t-top, spend weekends at Dewey Beach and cruise down Route 50 at 6 a.m. on Monday morning and still put in a productive day at work, or run to the store without makeup because no one will notice the difference.

Please don’t try to tell me the best years of my life are yet to come —how can I surpass eating everything I want and not gaining a pound, my first kiss, graduating from high school, meeting my spouse and tying the knot, welcoming my children into the world, buying a home, watching my offspring grow up and experience their first moments?

And what awaits me, but an empty nest, menopause, more wrinkles, more weight gain, and yet increasingly severe mood swings. How fun!

Men may go out and buy hotrods to ease the pain, but my guess is that women cope with their changes differently. 

I may sound like Debbie Downer, but let’s face the realities of aging. It’s not easy experiencing these changes that are inevitable. My hope is that once we complete this part of the journey, it all gets easier. In fact, a recent study indicated that people find their 60s and 70s to be the most satisfying time of their lives.

This may be because they have completed the most rewarding, but most challenging, portion of their lives and then they can focus on themselves, their health and hobbies—and enjoy their children in a new way as adults. 

My friends who have celebrated five lovely decades expressed a fair amount of anxiety and dread in the year leading up to that birthday.

Their apprehension was real and I could see it in their moods and general state of mind. So I don’t think I’m alone. However, once they actually turned 50, the proverbial weight seemed to lift (off the shoulders—not sure about the hips).

I’d like to hear from other women who are turning 50, or have already reached this milestone.

Have you experienced the female version of a midlife crisis?

If you are approaching 50, how do you feel about it? And finally, if you turned 50 and life only got better, I want to hear why.