Hello and Welcome to Fifty is Nifty Says Me

Hello everyone. Welcome to my new blog! I entitled this blog Fifty is Nifty Says Me because it truly is!  Could I ever imagine I would feel this way when I was thirty or even forty? No, I could not and in fact, did not. But now that I am about to begin my 4th year in this decade, I can honestly say to those of you getting close to the big 5-oh: fifty is nothing to fear.

Aside from the fact I am prescribed an arsenal  of maintenance medications, go to bed at 8 pm and get creaky in the cold, fifty really IS nifty.

And here's the reasons why.

The importance of this first reason cannot be overstated : the hard work of raising children is OVER! Yeah for me! My adult children are living their own lives now - with some funding and occasional support from mom and dad of course - but nonetheless - they have their own cars, go to school, work, have a significant other, meet with friends, in short, do all the things adults do with very little help from Bob and me. For those who may be worried about empty nests and not having young children at home, I can tell you that is is intensely gratifying to see the result of all the years of dedicated parenthood. Nothing as miraculous as having fully-grown, healthy, competent and happy adult children could ever result in sadness or regret of any kind, at least not on this mom's blog.  I have honestly never felt anything but pride and joy - and yes, even relief - as my children take on the responsibilities and freedoms of adulthood.

The next reason fifty is so nifty also took a lot of work, but a much more painful kind of work than raising children because unfortunately, I didn't get to discover who I am until I first discovered who I am NOT.  By who I am, I mean: a fully-integrated, self-aware human being who knows exactly who and what is important and never forgets it.  And at least for me, and like many people I know, it took a good 45 to 50 years to be able to make that claim.

It's a brutal process. You do something - or don't do something - and then you feel badly and you say to yourself (if you're lucky) - oops, don't like how that feels - won't do that again - and you might have to do that several times to get the message and all along, your life is changing and the situations are changing and you are changing and it's all very confusing. When you think of the sheer number of things that have to be done or not done over the course of a lifetime, you start to see what an enormous task it is to know oneself, thoroughly, or even just well enough to get by happily.

I don't think this process ends until the grave, and maybe not even then, but there's a lot of reference data in my memory now and it is a really good thing to have. I make decisions and act based on what I've learned about myself  - and here is where we need a drumroll, please -  no matter what the consequences or what others think. Period.

Seems remarkable it took so many decades and so much suffering to figure that one out. The path to self-knowledge may be different for each of us, but fifty is nifty because most of us have gotten to this point and it is certainly good to have arrived.

And that's not even the fun part of being fifty.  Yes, we even have fun in our fifties and though I am sure it is not the same kind of fun we had a few decades ago, it is still fun. What better time to pick up your old hobbies and interests and invent a few new ones?

I have a pretty long list of favorite things. There's my dogs, birds, gardening, restaurants, wine, knitting, reading, cooking, and now, perhaps blogging. Oh, and I love to travel and stay in really expensive hotels pretending I'm the 1%.  But of course, I'm not because I pay taxes. You might try writing out your own list just to see if you've got enough stuff on it, and if not, work on that a bit.

So who really needs those busy years between thirty and fifty? There are too many choices, too much to do, too much that can go wrong and too many years ahead to worry about. I may need hair color every four weeks now,  and I can no longer keep up with dance music so zumba is out, but then so is yoga because even being in one position for 30 seconds is apparently too much exercise for me. But I don't want to focus on what I've lost over the years. That's no fun at all.

I have started this blog to focus on what I have gained over the years and to celebrate life and its infinite beauty. I'd be honored if you followed me in this journey of celebrating what makes fifty so nifty!

P.S.  I recently discovered that it is INCORRECT to type two spaces after typing a period. WTF!  I have been doing this since junior year of high school when taught to do so in typing class - btw on a manual typewriter. (Only the business majors got to use the electric.)  I am not able to do this. Just. Not. Able. I have to go back after I am finished typing and remove the extra spaces, so sorry to offend you if I've missed any. Crazy, right?  Nothing stays the same. Yodels now the size of my pinkie.  What next?