If Fifty Is The New Forty.....

My friend and I were discussing the subject of how no matter what age we are, we aren't.

All the magazines tell us, "Fifty is the NEW Forty!!!!" 

"Seventy is the NEW Sixty!!!!"

As if.

art journal page done using mixed acrylics, stamps, uni-ball signo in white and chalk paint.

cause that's what was in front of me....

Let's just unravel this a bit, shall we?

If Fifty really was the "new" Forty, does that mean I would have more smarts because I have all ready lived that decade?

If I had more smarts, then, when left alone with a table full of broken cake pops I would swipe them directly into the trash, right?

Instead, I'm well into my Fifties, but I'm TOLD I'm still like 40, and when I was 40, I wasn't gluten-free. 

So I EAT the broken bits of cake pop like a meth addict while no one is watching because I've completely forgotten that I'm gluten-free now and I have apparently embraced my new 40 year old self with crumbled up box mix cake, canned frosting and hardened chocolate coating.

So much for smarts.

oh! and a Sharpie, oil based paint pen in white for all the little dots.

IF Fifty is the new Forty, shouldn't practicing Yoga With Adrienne on Youtube come easier?

Shouldn't doing a one armed side plank not be a big deal?

Oh, wait. 

I BROKE MY FREAKING SHOULDER AT AGE 52 AND ONE ARMED SIDE PLANKS DO NOT BODE WELL AT AGE 53.

But aren't I really 40? I had killer shoulders at age 40. And darn it, they're pretty good now.

IF Fifty is the new Forty, why did I have a used spoon in my purse for over a month?

A new forty year old me would have taken it out of her purse immediately and put it in the dishwasher. That new Forty year old would have been appalled at dirty silverware in her purse and would not have just shrugged at it and thought, "Gee. I wonder how that got there?" and then immediately forget it was in her purse.

And in that fifty-is-the-new-forty-year-old's-purse WHY in heaven's name do I find my child's sports bra in there? 

Because Twenty is the new Ten and they leave stuff absolutely everywhere?

Someone throw me a life jacket made out of common sense.

For the record, IF Fifty is the new Forty,

Why. Why. Why are my eyes needing corrective lenses whenever they are open?

Why?

So I can wear cool frames that make me look like I'm 40?

You can have your new Forty.

I'll take Fifty three just as it is.

Even when it's sleep deprived, lacking in hormones, forgetful and wrinkled.

I might gripe about these things once in a while, but I griped about stuff when I was 40, so what's new?

But here's the good part:

At Fifty three, I've been married to my husband for 30 years and I wouldn't trade a day of any of those years.

At fifty three, I get a lot of chances to look back and say, "Oh! Of course. THAT'S what that situation was all about!"

 I realize what I really, really like, I pursue it, and I'm blessed to be able to share it.

I learn that I like learning from twenty-somethings, and that I'm never to old to learn.

At fifty three, I don't have to do a one armed plank. I improvise because I know my limitations and I'm not embarrassed by them. I would be more embarrassed to be back in a shoulder sling because I didn't heed those limitations. 

Trying to be a "new" 40 when I'm definitely 53 implies that I'm not where I should be. That where I am in life isn't acceptable and I have to continually ignore the path I have traveled and look back to be something else.

Here's the deal. 

I don't want to re-travel any decade, thank you very much.

I want to live in the present moment, soak up all that I can and continue on-forge ahead for those who are coming up in the ranks. I want to be able to tell Forty year olds that life doesn't end at Fifty and you don't have to act like any other age, person or anything other than your beautiful self.

Happy Friday, my friends.

I hope your enjoying yourself wherever you are in life.

linking to Paint Party Friday