Is anyone else having a 'wobble' about turning 50 next year?

[midnightmoon8]

Or am I the only one feeling a bit low about the fact I'll be 50 in 2019? I've actually starting waking up in the early hours panicking about it. My 'D'H doesn't understand at all (he's already turned 50). I think it stems from the fact that I'm likely to be alone in the world one day (have no children) and my parents are sadly starting to show the signs of their age. I have hobbies and a few friends (& work) but feel very alone and unhappy about the fact I've had 50 years on the plant and in all likelihood won't have (or want?) another 50. How is everyone else in this position dealing with this? Does anyone have any words of wisdom or comfort?

Nope. It's going to be great.

I've had bereavements and a hard relationship break-down in my forties (and I'm sure there will more of the former again as life goes on), but I've learnt so much about myself from it all that I'm looking forward to pushing on and embracing life.

Not quite how you are but yes. So I’ve decided to celebrate once a month next year.
Doing a big night out, like a show in London, a long weekend abroad, spa night etc once a month
Fuckit we’re gonna be in our incredibly late forties

I'm looking forward to it tbh! Life is settled and I'm financially secure, I now am winding down my self employment so I can retire. Life is good.

No not really, except I think 50 sounds quite old. Past that not too bothered.

Sorry, I can't help. I've been 50 for 8 months and it's been great

Weirdly I have a sense of achievement, dunno why. (I've achieved not dying? Yay!) After 50 years of practise I've got really good at being me. I treated myself to a 'holiday of a lifetime' and it was amazing.

(Also I'm single, no children, one living parent, so you're ahead of me in the family connections.)

*practice

Not 50 but I turn 40 next year and my 30's have been shitstorm after shitstorm, so I really hope 40 is better.

I was 70 last Saturday! I am not unhappy about it. By the time you get to 50, hopefully you will have accepted life as it is, warts and all.

Getting older is not a walk in the park, but I would not have said that I feel unhappy about how life is. I am lucky to have children and Grandchildren who bring me joy; but if I did not have them, my life would still be full of my interests.

I long ago accepted that more of my life has passed than is to come. It is just how it is.

Sometimes I wake up and find it very hard to believe that I have reached my current age - when did that happen? - but it did, and there are two choices: mope about and waste the time I have left; or get stuck in to life and drain its every last drop. I am going for the latter, and I think you should too.

Thank you for your replies which have been helpful to read. I am going to try and be more positive as you suggest. I always used to be a glass half full kind of person but life seems to have worn me down. Appreciate you all replying.

Feel like you too everything makes me so stressy atm

I turn 50 on Friday and I'm not impressed! I want to be 25 again as I was thin and gorgeous instead of fat and menopausal

Ill be 50 next year, too!

I'm not worried about actually being 50 it's just that as I'm getting older I'm getting closer and closer to death (sorry to be morbid) and that freaks me out. I think a 'big' birthday somehow makes me more aware of that. I have vowed to be busy and make good use of the time I have left. I'm lucky I have a lovely house, lovely DH and 5 lovely children (3 of whom are happy adults). I still have one in primary school, even!
But just being an increasingly grey, perimenopausal woman, probably the oldest in the playground, with a big number attached to me doesn't bother me much. I had had youth once. Now I have middle age. It's fine.

Turning 50 didn't bother me at all. Had a girls trip to New York with 2 friends who turned 50 a couple of months before me.

I do know someone who is turning 50 very soon and she has been fretting about it since last year. But she decided to take the bull by the horns a get fit and lose weight. She joined a PT gym session and has lost loads of weight, is now much fitter and enjoys long walks and outdoor activities that she coudn't do before, has set herself a charity fundraising challenge to do just before her birthday (an activity that she couldn't do before as she wasn't fit enough) and has made lots of new and supportive friends along the way. She now feels a lot younger than 50.

Yes I'm a bit wobbly about it to. I like being more co fident etc but I do have some health issues holding me back.a bit more now which I find frustrating. I have nice stuff planned though and will maybe do the one thing a month thing someone suggested above!

I wobbled a bit about being 50, but what shocks me now is that I am about to turn 55 and it feels like a blink of an eye since I was worried about turning 50!! This has been the quickest half decade yet. So for me, just enjoy everyday because they seem to speed up.

It's been and gone, a while back now, but yes, I did have quite a big wobble and kept it as low key as possible, no party, didn't let on to my colleagues etc. I got over it fairly quickly though.

I will be 60 next week, definitely do not look it and no wobbles anywhere. It is just a number!
However, it is surprising how much stealth grainwashing goes on around age.

*brainwashing
or maybe washing grain for the gin?

I've been over 50 for years. It's great, nothing to worry about actually.

We can be alone in the world at any age, parents will get older and die (mine have done that), but although they are missed it's the natural cycle of life.

I'm slimmer, fitter, healthier and far happier than I was in my mid 40s. Better to get on and enjoy middle age than to worry about it. OP: take up a few new interests, learn new things, travel to places you want to go to. Just embrace being alive.

I’m not 50 yet I have a couple years to go but I do feel more vulnerable then I have ever before. I have had a tough few years and thankfully life is a lot calmer now but has come at a price. I don’t worry so much about a number as that’s all it is really. But watching parents age etc is difficult and some horrible truths are sinking in but I don’t think it’s 50 approaching just reality. I consider birthdays a gift I lost one of my close friends a couple years ago and I’m sure she would have loved to have the chance to moan about the big 50

Watching my adult children being awesome is great.

I am mountain climbing, marathon running, open water swimming and travelling when I can.

I love my DP and I have amazing, inspirational friends.

I do have MH problems and hate my job, but I consider myself so lucky to be alive at 50 when so many do not get the chance. I don’t care about grey hair and make up. I probably won’t ever be able to retire, but I want to love this life. I think it’s a privilege.

I am 51 and still feel like 18 (in my head only sadly). My nugget of wisdom is I felt like it was time to "give something back" and I've started mentoring as a volunteer. I love it and think I benefit just as much as the people I'm mentoring. Use your life skills for the good and you'll feel better about all the crap that goes with being 50!

I’ve been 50 for nearly 10 months and I’m loving it!

I didn’t make a fuss for my birthday (tend to do more for 5/10 year wedding anniversaries as we can celebrate together) but I’ve regularly remarked on my age and experience. For example “At this point I think I know how to recognize (a ripe melon).”.
It also spurred me to get a firm grip on my health, knowing that it’s likely to be all downhill from now on. I was very unwell about 2 months after my birthday and thought “I can’t go on for the next thirty (?) years like this, or worse!”.
I had blood tests done, discovered I was pre diabetic and had some serious vitamin deficiencies which had been causing me general but bearable problems that I’d been putting up with for far too long.

So here I am, on a serious low carb lifestyle for the foreseeable future, slimmer and healthier than I was 15 years ago. I have zest for life and definitely stress less about what I “should” be doing or what other people think. Call it tolerance or just that I’m too old for that sh*t.

Life certainly isn’t over at 50, OP,

I can't quite believe I'm 47! I'm thinking about 50 too. Trying to get fitter and get myself in order. My 40s have been disastrous for close family relationships. Meh! It is what it is.

I lost a close colleague recently. She was 44. I'm going to soldier on. In many ways I've been so lucky in life. Good luck OP.

I’m 52, 53 in a few weeks. I think it’s great, I feel more settled within myself, more confident in lots of ways, and give fewer fucks than ever before

I have major health issues but live in a lovely place, have a great husband (of 31 years) and am semi retired with time to do the hobbies and interests that I am physically able to. I lost my dad almost two years ago and my mum is in her late 70s but she’s still active and independent so it’s not all doom and gloom