middle age
By perrygunight
@perrygunight (555)
United States
July 6, 2007 3:39pm CST
When does middle age start? Since we don't know how long we'll live, how can we be sure? I passed the age at which I used to think middle age started a long time ago. Since the middle of the road includes most of said road, does middle age include most of our lives?
2 people like this
4 responses
@sweetcakes (3504)
• United States
6 Jul 07
I think there are two answers to this question. One of them is biological. Each age brings certain physical changes with it. These changes start at different chronological age in each person. For example, some women enter periomenopause earlier than others and menopause starts later. The other answer is psychological. Some people act like old grandparents when they are still teenagers and some like teenagers although they are 70. As for appearance, I think today there are so many cosmetic possibilities, that no one has to let others see their age unless they want to. As for me, I am not ashamed of my gray hair and wrinkles, at least people can see at first glance that I have had some life experience behind me.
3 people like this
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
7 Jul 07
That's so true. My teenage kids have some friends who act more like grandparents than some grandparents do. And there have always been people with faces that could look any age. I can't imagine going through the pain of surgery to look younger, but some have a higher tolerance for pain.
I've earned every gray hair and wrinkle, but wouldn't have minded waiting longer to receive them.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
6 Jul 07
I think you have to see what the average life span is these days and figure the middle from there. It is currently said the 50 is the new 40 and so on. So it is hard to tell. Of course if something happens you die early or even later then that would skew that middle age time. Not something I am concerned with for sure. Good luck coming to terms with this in your own way.
2 people like this
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
7 Jul 07
Thanks. I'm about to turn 47, which is no big deal until I remember how elderly my parents seemed when they were 47. Come to think of it, they seemed pretty old when they were 37 too. Scratch the comment about them seeming elderly.
@Willowlady (10658)
• United States
8 Jul 07
Tis quite ok, I am 47 and it is no big deal. My parents are doing real well are are in their 80's. I hope to see them into the 90's and keep that in mind as I live on. Good luck to you.
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
8 Jul 07
Thanks. Since the whole world is having a party today, things are looking good.
@patgalca (18368)
• Orangeville, Ontario
6 Jul 07
Judging by the average life span, I would think 40 would be considered middle aged. I think 80 is the average life span. However my mother's mother lived to be 98 and my mother's sister is now 93. So as I turn 45 this year I feel I am heading into middle age now. I don't feel middle aged, though. Not at all. I got started having kids late so I think of someone middle aged having kids graduating from HIGH school, not grade school.
As much as I don't feel middle aged, I think this upcoming birthday is going to affect me, especially since all the forms I fill out online have a 30-44 age bracket so I will be moving up to the next age bracket. *sigh*
2 people like this
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
7 Jul 07
I entered that age bracket two years ago. Don't worry; some forms have different ways to divide ages. I'm not looking forward to being in the one that ends with a plus instead of a number, though.
@kelly60 (4547)
• United States
8 Jul 07
That is a really good question. I think that I have been middle aged for a very long time. By the age of 46, I am probably past the middle of my life so I'm sure that I am in the middle aged part of my life, but I don't know just how long middle age lasts before I get to the old age part...
1 person likes this
@perrygunight (555)
• United States
9 Jul 07
I think old age starts when people have a constant feeling of being old. That means my great-aunt stayed middle-aged until she was about 97. If it started when she was 30, which I think it did in her generation, it was indeed most of her life.
