Are we old yet?
AUSTRALIA, we have a problem.
Are we still thinking a person in their 50s is old?
Turning 50? Here’s a pat on the back and the key to a villa in an over 50s community.
Admittedly, when I was a kid anyone aged over 40 was ancient.
I’ve always worn my hair long, through my 20s, 30s and first few years of my 40s, I had this idea I’d have it chopped off in a one-sided bob style when I turned 50.
Yes, my plan was to morph into a Karen before knowing that was a thing.
I liked the hairstyle back then ok!
I’d say ‘I don’t want to be mutton dressed up as lamb’.
Cue 2022 and I’d done 50 laps around the sun thinking I’m still lamb, sort of.
Weight gain has pushed the envelope and the seams on my clothing somewhat, but I don’t feel old.
I thought I was old when I was 29 turning 30.
‘I suppose I need to act like an adult now’ I thought.
Then along came 40 and I laughed at 30 year old Lara and felt a little annoyed she’d passed up some youthful experiences.
Now I really need to start acting like an adult, 40s is middle aged and I am well behind the curve, I thought.
Silly, silly girl.
The 40s passed in a blur akin to a car journey where you see the world pass by as a passenger.
In my late 40s my hair remained long because ‘Karen’ was a thing and ‘I’m no Karen’.
I hit my 50s with the force of a freight train hitting into a rock embankment.
I derailed and all my misconceptions tumbled out of the carriages.
I woke up to myself bigtime.
I’d neglected to savour certain things because I thought society put me in different brackets each time a decade passed.
But they didn’t, I did.
And in doing that I cut myself off from experiencing things that could’ve become savoured memories.
I turn 53 this year and I no longer think of age as being something set in stone.
If you’re alive, enjoy life.
Live while you’re alive or you’re better off dead.
And Australia, we need to rethink over 50s living communities because birth rates in people aged 40-44 have gone up and they’re going to be full over families with kids.
