50+

I just heard someone say that age 0-50 is for learning and 50+ is for living.  It struck a chord in my heart that, yes, I've done a whole lot more living in the years after I turned 50.  Of course, you never stop learning but it's in your senior years that maybe, just maybe, you've learned how to enjoy the life you've been graced with.  It's not so much a matter of knowing you have a limited time left to enjoy but more an appreciation that you get to enjoy it at all.

If I remember correctly (it's been a long time), we spend those early and middle years being sort of self centered.  We're building a life and worrying that we aren't keeping up.  Maybe it's the "building" that makes the difference between the rough early and middle years and the hopeful serenity of our later years when we usually aren't "building" anything any more.  We've stepped aside from the hustle and bustle and are simply living.  I, for one, love this time of life.

There's a website I get occasional updates from, one where I sent in a letter about what I experienced when Dennis passed away.  It amazes me how many people experience the same phenomena as I did and each one I read about reinforces my belief that there is some sort of life after death.  There is so little publicity about these experiences and that's something I don't understand.  It doesn't disparage religion and it gives us old folk hope for another future.

Today I head off to the game rooms with a car full of fun friends.  When I have to stay back in Canada during the winter, my plans are to spend most days at the senior center where I can make new friends and enjoy whatever activities that interest me.  We don't have to retire to boredom in our old age but we do get to create a new lifestyle.

The secret to a happy old age is to expand your interests and be as sociable as you're able to be.