Over 50 The Good The Bad and the Ugly

[Metis_LDS]

I am sorry about the title I could not resist. Well I am most certainly over 50 for sure.  I searched this board for old age and other related age terms with no hits. I understand that at this point in history there are less older people using computers because they did not grow up with them.  So YES PLEASE post the good things about being older and also the bad and ugly things.  If you are not  yet 50 or over PLEASE post your observations of those over 50.  

I will post as I can.  Thank you to all.

 

Edited April 17, 2019 by Metis_LDS
clarity

[CV75]

2 hours ago, Metis_LDS said:

I am sorry about the title I could not resist. Well I am most certainly over 50 for sure.  I searched this board for old age and other related age terms with no hits. I understand that at this point in history there are less older people using computers because they did not grow up with them.  So YES PLEASE post the good things about being older and also the bad and ugly things.  If you are not there yet PLEASE post your observations of those over 50.  

I will follow the progress and post as I can.  Thank you to all.

The good: I enjoy seeing personal progress in living the Gospel and witnessing, seemingly without as much distraction as before, the unfolding miracle and wonder of life as children and grandchildren make their way, hopefully with some advantages we could offer them. The ugly: I am learning the butterfly stroke! LOL

Edited April 17, 2019 by CV75

[Glenn101]

The good, the bad, and the ugly can be mostly mental. There are some who have "ugly" things happen such as debilitating illness, chronic pain, or the like, but even with those things, keeping a positive outlook can keep a person from seeing any negative aspect of aging from being seen as ugly. The most positive ones I know just see it as a young mind trapped in an aging body which refuses to cooperate most of the time.

Of course the old people posting here may disagree with that and tell me to stay in my own lane. After all there are some things that one has to experience in order to be able to understand.

Glenn

[Metis_LDS]

24 minutes ago, Glenn101 said:

The good, the bad, and the ugly can be mostly mental. There are some who have "ugly" things happen such as debilitating illness, chronic pain, or the like, but even with those things, keeping a positive outlook can keep a person from seeing any negative aspect of aging from being seen as ugly. The most positive ones I know just see it as a young mind trapped in an aging body which refuses to cooperate most of the time.

Of course the old people posting here may disagree with that and tell me to stay in my own lane. After all there are some things that one has to experience in order to be able to understand.

Glenn

Yeah, let's get some of the bad and ugly stuff out of the way!

I know for sure that I am not as good a car driver as I used to be - since my ability's gone down I have to rely on my experience more than before. My night vision is shot, so I avoid driving at night as much as possible and do not enjoy it at all. Car journeys longer than about an hour are more difficult just because I get sore when sitting down longer than that.

This is not me being grumpy about these things, but trying to be honest with younger people.

 

[BlueDreams]

Since I've worked at the temple on the same shift for a long time, I've worked most consistently with my Older ladies over 50. When I got married, they were so excited about it that one threw me an impromptu temple worker bridal shower at a local restaurant. It was so fun and so sweet! The good is definitely their company and sharing stories with them....sometimes unexpectedly validating. Such as when they saw that I was planning to do cloth diapering on my baby shower invites. Where I was used to somewhat defending the choice, a number of them would talk about their experiences with it, and how it'll be easier for me since I have a washer and dryer...or how they enjoyed watching the diapers air dry in the sun. They get excited with me and mention how they miss little babies. I've really enjoyed working beside them, hearing some of their life concerns as well, and from time to time helping them too. I'm really going to miss working beside them as I have. They've lived amazing lives and I was enriched by their sharing of them. 

 

Bad....Sometimes having my credentials questioned in my work cuz I'm young and look even younger than I am. Most don't and I've had some really great older folks in my office to work with. This also doesn't happen as much once they're scraping 60....I think they're more used to just about everybody being younger than them when entering an office at that point. But it can be a bit of an annoyance as they remind me that I'm about their daughter's age or I can see them wondering just how young I am and if that will be a barrier for me to really understanding their problems. Along side that, they're more likely to have some...uhh...uncomfortable opinions. About gender roles, youths, race, politics, the nation, etc. There can definitely be some generational divides in how we approach problems and discuss concerns. This isn't always bad, I can tell their way of thinking has had some benefit....but it can also come with assuming that their way is inherently better than the younger generation's method of thinking/doing things. That can be a definite problem. 

 

With luv,

BD

[USU78]

40 minutes ago, BlueDreams said:

Since I've worked at the temple on the same shift for a long time, I've worked most consistently with my Older ladies over 50. When I got married, they were so excited about it that one threw me an impromptu temple worker bridal shower at a local restaurant. It was so fun and so sweet! The good is definitely their company and sharing stories with them....sometimes unexpectedly validating. Such as when they saw that I was planning to do cloth diapering on my baby shower invites. Where I was used to somewhat defending the choice, a number of them would talk about their experiences with it, and how it'll be easier for me since I have a washer and dryer...or how they enjoyed watching the diapers air dry in the sun. They get excited with me and mention how they miss little babies. I've really enjoyed working beside them, hearing some of their life concerns as well, and from time to time helping them too. I'm really going to miss working beside them as I have. They've lived amazing lives and I was enriched by their sharing of them.  {snipsy}

Babies.  Yum.  Our grandkid # 12 hit 1 week old Monday at 10:30 pm.  Hyperemesis?  Done.  Gestational diabetes?  Done.  Bilirubin light bed?  Done.  Cheeks?  Still smooshable.  How old is your kidlet now?

[JAHS]

Being over 50 (60) I have noticed that the bad isn't as bad as I though it was when younger. Experience with life has shown me that bad things have a way of working themselves out.
Or at least I am not surprised as much when they happen and am able to be more patient in working them out and resolving them. 
Grand-kids are a really fun part of being over 50.

[BlueDreams]

2 hours ago, USU78 said:

Babies.  Yum.  Our grandkid # 12 hit 1 week old Monday at 10:30 pm.  Hyperemesis?  Done.  Gestational diabetes?  Done.  Bilirubin light bed?  Done.  Cheeks?  Still smooshable.  How old is your kidlet now?

She’s still cooking, but we’re getting close. Should be sometime around early june

[Jeanne]

What can I say...to young people that pass me on a sidewalk..I am invisible.  Feeling other than all of a sudden.  That is okay.  Looking back there are some do overs I would like to have of course, but no...I am okay and don't want to be a teenager....the mom of little ones that I worried so much about...the new widow....just me.  I am okay.  There are things that I really used to care about...like cute shoes..now I just want comfortable shoes...gym to get healthy???  Or just get shorter???   Tech??  I miss the good old  days...I want people to TALK to me.  After all is said and done..this older boomer generation gets a big taboo from everybody...we seem to suck the life out of SS and everything...plots to even kill us all!!  😉

[USU78]

1 hour ago, BlueDreams said:

She’s still cooking, but we’re getting close. Should be sometime around early june

Hope yours has been uneventful and the delivery will be smooth as a Friends delivery.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

12 hours ago, Metis_LDS said:

I am sorry about the title I could not resist. Well I am most certainly over 50 for sure.  I searched this board for old age and other related age terms with no hits. I understand that at this point in history there are less older people using computers because they did not grow up with them.  So YES PLEASE post the good things about being older and also the bad and ugly things.  If you are not  yet 50 or over PLEASE post your observations of those over 50.  

I will post as I can.  Thank you to all.

 

Good things, grand babies, lots of em. 

[Garden Girl]

I think one of the most difficult things for me (78 years, widowed 21 years, no children or grandchildren, now alone as family all gone), is that I still feel like I'm in my mid/late 40's... it's odd how the spirit can still feel so alive, and the body seemingly crumbling more each day.  This surprises me because I was so physically active (played singles tennis) well into my 40's/mid 50's.   My hands grow increasingly arthritic to the point where I can no longer grasp my tennis racket, or my paint brushes or stand for hours at my easel... that was a big part of my life...painting... and now I've almost had to lay that aside completely.

I miss being able to garden... I used to do some of my best praying on my knees with my hands in the rich soil... I used to mow the lawn with a hand mower... I would talk to the flowers, hug my trees,  feel the joy as the hummingbirds would play in the spray of the hose... Now I'm lucky to do container gardening, but thankful for beautiful results... I miss being really fashionable and wearing high heels... but I loved laughing with my sister about how things "used to be".  

And let's be frank.. I miss my husband in so many ways, including physically... we had a very warm and loving relationship.  What a special person he was... I'm sealed to him now... 

I'm incredibly fortunate in that even though things have changed greatly,  I am truly blessed in so many ways... and what memories I have!!

GG

Edited April 18, 2019 by Garden Girl

[Jean-Luc Picard]

The bad, the older people in power in Congress and the White House. Not caring about our debt, and climate change, because who cares. We are set, and will be close to dead by the time the ugliest part of that mess rears its head.

The good, the wonderful people who share beautiful stories with my kids of the past. I love that in the Church has my kids interact with all ages of people. Without the Church, the only elderly people my kids would really interact with is their grandparents. 

Edited April 20, 2019 by Jean-Luc Picard

[Metis_LDS]

6 hours ago, Jean-Luc Picard said:

The bad, the older people in power in Congress and the White House. Not caring about our debt, and climate change, because who cares. We are set, and will be close to dead by the time the ugliest part of that mess rears its head.

The good, the wonderful people who share beautiful stories with my kids of the past. I love that in the Church has my kids interact with all ages of people. Without the Church, the only elderly people my kids would really interact with is their grandparents. 

Yes  there is a television series that plays here in the UK, it is a comedy and upon observing fascist tendencies one man says "Funny how you get more right wing as you get older"  I constantly battle with myself to stay in towards the center of politics. Also like you said it still takes a village to raise children.

Edited April 20, 2019 by Metis_LDS

[Stargazer]

On 4/17/2019 at 5:31 PM, BlueDreams said:

Since I've worked at the temple on the same shift for a long time, I've worked most consistently with my Older ladies over 50. When I got married, they were so excited about it that one threw me an impromptu temple worker bridal shower at a local restaurant. It was so fun and so sweet! The good is definitely their company and sharing stories with them....sometimes unexpectedly validating. Such as when they saw that I was planning to do cloth diapering on my baby shower invites. Where I was used to somewhat defending the choice, a number of them would talk about their experiences with it, and how it'll be easier for me since I have a washer and dryer...or how they enjoyed watching the diapers air dry in the sun. They get excited with me and mention how they miss little babies. I've really enjoyed working beside them, hearing some of their life concerns as well, and from time to time helping them too. I'm really going to miss working beside them as I have. They've lived amazing lives and I was enriched by their sharing of them. 

That's lovely!  My wife and I just started working at the temple.

On 4/17/2019 at 5:31 PM, BlueDreams said:

...it can be a bit of an annoyance as they remind me that I'm about their daughter's age...

Allow me to annoy you still further: you're way younger than my daughter!

But I've learned that young people can frequently have a freshness of outlook that sometimes caps my experience.  Both I, the second counselor, and the first counselor in our elders quorum presidency are each more than twice the age of our president, and our president is actually younger than you (as far as I can tell from this distance).  He's extremely competent as quorum president and we both look up to him, even though our church leadership experience is way more extensive than his.  If he's the future of church leadership then all will be well.  

As for you, I've marveled at your insight on many matters over the years, and I'd gladly take advice from you at any time.  Not that I need much! 😄