Life over 50 may not be what you expected –
No matter where you live in the western world things have changed!
We all know that change is inevitable, that nothing stays the same. But for some reason once you are over 50 a lot of big changes take place that we may not really be prepared for. I don’t think that I’ve ever met anyone that just can’t wait to turn 50, and 10 years later for many turning 60 is even worse.
Most of us reach these age milestones with trepidation and a smile on our face to the world even if we are not feeling it in our hearts. It’s another reminder of how time is slipping away from us. Even though there may still be 60 minutes in an hour and 7 days in a week, boy does time seem to go by faster each year as we get older. It brings home how short a lifetime really is, so if there are things you want or need to do you had better get on with it!
If we want to survive and thrive in our later life we do have to reinvent ourselves, sometimes more than once and become more resilient in order to manage the challenges that we will probably have to face. In my parents and grandparents time 50 was old, and it always appeared to me that once people got older and into their senior years, somehow they were more settled into life and they sort of plodded along and accepted the status Quo and retirement was short lived for many and not because they chose to return to work. Were they really happy with it – who knows but on the whole they accepted it and didn’t know any better. But that’s definitely not the case anymore!
Just think about it back then how many parents aged 50 plus had young children at home with them unless it was their grandchildren. Today it’s pretty common to have parents in their ‘50s and 60s with kids in school or collage. How many in the age group of 50, 60, and 70 plus were getting divorced, never mind out dating again. Not to mention beginning a new career path in their 50s or running a business for the first time while in their 60s or 70s. How many women on their own or men for that matter at retirement age packed up everything to move to another part of the world where they spoke a different language? This is the way it is for many over 50s these days.
Today’s over 50s seniors are the pioneers for future generations, we don’t want to plod along to the end we want adventure, excitement, opportunities and more. The world has changed and so have we!
The economy is the pits and many plans have been waylaid through no fault of our own. We have trusted others with our hard earned money and many lost out because of it. A lot of people are sick of being told that everything is ‘with the people’s interest at heart’ only to see things getting worse day by day. No wonder so many people want change and they are not prepared to listen to any more bull, and many are taking the ‘bull by the horns’ and making some big decisions for themselves. Most of people are beginning to realize that in the end they are on their own and no one will have your interests at heart better than you. It is up to each one of us to reinvent ourselves and our life if we want to survive the changes in today’s world.
Think about what’s happening in your life. Is it going the way you want? If stuff is happening that you don’t like, didn’t expect, wish was different then you’ve probably already discovered that dwelling on it or burying your head in the sand doesn’t help to change it. Use that energy in finding better solutions and options. Don’t waste anymore time just plodding along, feeling hopeless reinvent yourself and your life!