Is 50 the new 30?
Advanced health care is stretching our lives. We will live longer and most often healthier lives. Unless we do stupid stuff!!!
Let us consider what is getting longer.
The obvious conclusion is that the end is being stretched. BUT just because the number gets bigger is that really old age? Does an 80 year old of today feel and look like a 80 year old from 30–50 years ago?
NO, NO, NO!!!
Our eldest group looks and acts younger. I would say that most 80 year old’s today are like the 60 year old’s I grew up with. They are not giving up so easily.
Next group I want to discuss is the youngest amongst us.
Is the beginning of our lives stretched? NOPE! We still go through the baby, toddle, child, teen, young adult, and adult phases. But 21 is 21 and still an entry into adulthood.
What is being stretched is middle age. It used to be that once you were 35–45 you entered middle age. You started having a middle age crisis. Interestingly, when I started my career I was surrounded by this group and it was amazing to watch them enter this age group and start having divorces. It was nuts!!!
I am about to be 55 in July and I would say that I am middle age. I would define the new middle age as 45–80. I had an 80 year old employee working for me a couple of years ago and he was mentally sharp. Physically he had some challenges BUT those were due to a war and not his own abuse.
So what are the benefits of middle age?
By the time you are 50 you have become a person who has accumulated thousands of hours of knowledge. You might have changed your job a few times and with each change gained perspective.
Those skills you have accumulated are helping to to reach wisdom. The way I would define wisdom is the ability to understand when and how to apply the knowledge you have gained in multiple scenarios.
The skills and knowledge combination put you in a unique group that is in high demand. Industry needs wise skilled knowledge workers to do and lead younger workers.
By the way, the 50+ is the best paying period of most people’s lives. You are usually being paid the best to provide your life accumulated best.
Why the picture?
Notice that the couple is sitting on a mat with a laptop in front of them. They are taking care of two energies: physical and mental. They are taking care of their body AND feeding their minds with new information. Simple and powerful!!! The lesson is that you will not feel middle age for 40+ years unless you take care of your body and mind.
