If you are middle-aged, that is where you are – right smack dab in the middle between youth and old age. The good news is we have approximately 20 years [middle age is considered between the ages of 40-ish and 60-ish] to cultivate middle age wisely so, that gives us plenty of time to prepare for old age!
Remember, middle age is not the time to quit! Achievement still counts and choices still matter in middle age so you are not off the hook yet!
Living in the Middle
I had to laugh when I saw this definition of middle: middle: the point equally distant from the outer limits.
I laughed because to remember my own youth and to watch the youth of today, I have concluded that youth is truly an outer limits experience! Additionally, I have dealt with the elderly enough by now to know that old age is truly an outer limits experience when you get there too.
So, I can say with utmost conviction that I will treasure and cherish this time I have to live in the middle of life, equally distant from the “outer limits."
In a recent article titled A Winning Friendship in the Parade, a reporter interviewed two of my all-time favorite female tennis players, Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert. Both ladies were my tennis idols when I was growing up and playing competitively. When asked a question about retirement, Chris Evert replied:
I went from retiring to getting married and having three kids, so I went from one high to another high. Now it’s hitting me. We’ve both (Evert and Navratilova) been to therapy, because you have the highs and the lows, but life is really in between, and it’s about trying to find that balance to live in the middle.
How true that is.
By middle age, we have all experienced tremendous highs and lows, and while excess on occasion is exhilarating because it prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit (a quote by W. Somerset Maugham), I happen to be enjoying living life in the middle! Like my readers, I’m still trying to get the hang of this middle age stage, but I am having more fun with it than any other time in life to be sure. I hope you are too. Just remember: In middle age, don’t focus on flaws or decline – focus on your capabilities. Our capacity for everything is greater in middle age and we have more resources available to us than ever before. So use them wisely and have some fun along the way!
Vitamins to Help Cultivate Middle Age Wisely You know, I would be remiss in my duties if, in wrapping up this series of posts, I did not leave you with one last list to assist in cultivating middle age wisely, so, here it is.
To help our middle-aged brains remember that middle age is not the end of life, merely the beginning or youth of old age, I will use an acronym B-E-G-I-N to remember the Middle Age Vitamin List.
Vitamin B
Balance. By now, you have learned that life is full of extremes: good and bad, love and hate, joys and sorrows, abundance and lack, health and illness, and so on. Finding a way to maintain our balance through all life has for us is essential to cultivating and enjoying a healthy and happy middle age.
Vitamin E
Exercise. Exercise both your brain and your body. Yes, your brain is aging/changing physically but there is good news. Recently, researchers have found positive news. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can. Keep your brain nourished and active by healthy diet and continuous learning.
Yes, your body is aging/changing, but you can be your own human growth hormone. Make it a priority to anti-age yourself through appropriate and enjoyable exercise and recreation. If we live long enough we will probably all end up with some level of geriatric infirmity, but we can combat the extremes and postpone the inevitable by taking care of ourselves physically through healthy diet and exercise.
Barring some sort of accident, the choices we make in middle age to promote our physical and mental health will greatly affect how we enter old age. Middle age is a great time to go back to school or develop a new skill or pick up a new hobby or sport. Anything that engages your mind and body will be of tremendous benefit.
Vitamin G
Grace. Cultivate poise, integrity, humility, kindness, generosity, forgiveness, mercy, consideration, thoughtfulness, patience, purpose, clarity in your spiritual relationship with God, manners, respectfulness, and just overall try to have a good effect on other people. A little bit of grace goes a long way! Try it!
Vitamin I
Interest. Take a proactive interest in your own life as well as in the lives of others! If you have made it this far, you have earned the right to enjoy life! Be innovative and find things that will satisfy your middle-aged need for generativity, longevity and legacy. Somehow in the middle of the chaos that at times can be middle age, find the things that bring you enjoyment and make it a point to do them!
Vitamin N
Nap. After doing all the exercises needed to cultivate middle age wisely, take a nap! Physical and mental rest and refreshment are necessary to cultivate optimal health in every area of our lives! So, in the hustle and bustle of life, remember to get proper rest!
CONCLUSION
Well, hopefully after the past few weeks we’ve had some fun with this Cultivating Middle Age Wisely series, and perhaps learned a thing or two along the way. I’m going to wrap it up now and move on to other topics of interest, as well as requests from readers, but don’t be surprised if the subject of middle age reappears on this blog from time to time from this middle-aged gal. I am finding it a very fascinating, challenging, exciting and humorous time of life! I hope you are too because like it or not, if we are given the privilege of living long enough, we all arrive at middle age. And just like the historical middle ages, it will be marked with significant opportunities, changes and events.
Remember, it is your choice to make middle age an opportunity, not a crisis!
Live, play, grow, learn, laugh, love, and nap well everyone!
~Solissea
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