Old Age

[Catmeouws]

Am I being unreasonable to think that I am not old? I am approaching my 60th birthday. Is 60 the end of middle age and the start of old age?

I think 60 is still middle aged these days.

I only discovered when we started to do the same Parkrun (the results are published with age categories) that a middle aged friend of mine is actually in her 70s.

I really do think it relates closely to your health. I was fit and active and never gave a thought to age at all until about 4 years ago when an unfortunate accident reduced my mobility; and a hip replacement was not a huge success. I will be 70 this year and inside my heart I am still young. I am very active in my local community, and have had to aceopt that my pleasures and contributions to the community have to be in ways that do not require me to be able to run, jump or even walk at speed!

I do not feel old; but I do feel slowed down by some of life's blows. It is important to accept these limitations with a good grace or the rest of life would be filled with bitterness.

Oh - and I am carer to my OH who has a life-limiting degenerative illness, and is fading before my eyes.

These are the sort of things that creep up on us as time goes by, whether we like it or not. The only way forward is to take joy in what you can do and not dwell on what has gone.

My family are of course the joy of my life and I still do GC care and school pick-ups etc. As my DGD (3) said the other day: you sit on that cushion Grandma as you are old. She also asked me when I was going to die. Lover her!!!

Love, not lover!!!!

And PS - if you are young, then treasure every moment and get stuck in!

60 isn't old, OP, nothing like it.

My mum is 71 and she isn't old either.

MereDinto, the age you can get a bus pass varies across the country. Liverpool council give them out when you are 60. Other councils, including where I live, give them when you reach pension age (for me that is one month short of 66). I am 64 at present

clearsommespace, I stopped eating meat and dairy to help with Menopause symptoms. I think because my diet became largely plant based and no processed foods etc, my energy went through the roof. before I became ill, I had better energy than when I was younger and having bouts of anemia, disturbed sleep from children etc.

I've known lots of people who've at least cut down on meat and they all feel better for it.

My neighbour once described my dad as “an elderly gentleman” and I was outraged. Tbf, he was 74 at the time, but even now at 78 he’s still not ‘elderly’, ffs!

I'm 64 and won't get a pension or be eligible for a bus pass until several months after my 65th birthday. I AM old by most people's definitions because my depression + medication side-effects have made me pretty much an apathetic hermit with no friends, plus arthritis limits my mobility. Tbh I should just die really, but I have a kind and patient husband and a wonderful daughter, so for now I'm hanging on.

I believe my life would have been very different and I could be a very young(ish) fit and happy 64 year old had I made different decisions when I was young. As the saying goes "hindsight is 20/20".

Basically, there's a lot more to being young, middle-aged or old than chronological age. Physical and psychological factors are crucial and can make a hell of a lot of difference to how you look, how you feel and how much you get out of life (and put into it).

mydogisthebest, there's a FB meme about how old you and your children will be in ten years time. The perk i'm looking forward to is having my Bus Pass, I'm in Liverpool. You can go all of the way to Wales on it .

I remeber a comedy bit where the guy says “when you’re young and you hear about someone dying at 60 you think ‘well of COURSE they died, they were 60!’ But when you get older you think ‘oh god!!! What did they die of?!’”

Middle age is 45-70 these days. Old 70-85, then Very Old (as defined by social workers and the NHS etc) 85-plus.

In terms of individuals, as everyone says, cash and health are what decides your category, not your birthdate.

I'm always staggered by people who collapse into Middle Age with an oof when they are 35. Or sling other people in.

I’m 60 and certainly don’t feel old but I think other people see me as old, sometimes in shops younger people will say bless you, that’s what people say to old people isn’t it. Sometimes it’s just other people’s reactions make you feel old and how they see you. I remember when I was in my 20s I thought people at work were old at 50.

No, 60 isn't old. I'm in my 50s and still think I'm a young thing. My 20-something DC probably wouldn't agree with me, but I don't care. In my head I'm still 25 but with a bit more wisdom.

My parents are in their 80s and they don't think they are old. My grandmother didn't consider herself old until she was in her early 90s, but she was in good health until then.

It depends on your outlook and your state of health really.

My mum, at 77, now seems fairly old to me but that has only happened recently. Since I have another 12 years to work before pension and have good health, I definitely don't feel old but do recognise that life experience and leisure activities may indicate otherwise. It honestly doesn't matter though does it?

I am 56 today! OK definitely middle aged, I creak a bit and sometimes go "Oof" when I get out of a chair. But certainly not old. DH is 60 and wouldn't call him old either.

My sisters are in their 60s and not old either.

Funny. When I was a child people our age really were old

Happy birthday 5foot5!

IMO 50 is old, 60 is very old. It's not rude to say that somebody is old - well, maybe it's rude to say it to their face if they don't seem the type to call a spade a spade, but 'old' is not a pejorative word. Active old people are quite likely to be in better shape than I am, at 41.

Incidentally, I believe that in Roman times one was considered a iuvenis (youth) until the age of 39, and then a senex (old man) from 40 onwards. At least that kind of precise definition of terms would avoid arguments like the present one!

Agustarella since in your opinion 60 is very old, what on earth is someone 38 years older than that, i.e. 98 which is my mother's age?

@InsomniacAnonymous Your mum is very very very old! If she's healthy she could live to be a super-centenarian. I have a great great aunt (i.e. my great grandmother's sister, hope I've got the number of 'greats' right) who was born in 1913 and is still going strong. Of course, the fact that one can be very very old for decades on end doesn't mean that people half that age are very very young. It just means that living into extreme old age has become relatively common.

So the Agust you think Kylie is old, Owen Wilson, Will Smith, Sandra Bullock, Liz Hurley? You look at them and class them as old? Seriously?

I am middleaged (53). I have a colleague a couple of years older than me but she seems decades older. Moany and reels off her many ailments if you ask her how she is. Moaning about younger people and problems all the time is very ageing. Looking forward, being engaged with new things - that is the way to feel youthful.

The average life expectancy for Romans was 35 so really does not apply nowadays, surely you realised that? So for your information the current life expectancy in the UK for a woman is 83 and 79 for a man
Agust

If I do feel a bit “old” I remember my mum. She was 40 when she died. I feel sad that she never got to be old.

Life expectancy in the uk is just under 83 for women, 79 for men. If life is split into youth, middle age and old age

Women youth 0-28, middle age 27-55, old age 55-83
Men youth 0-27, middle age 26-53, old age 52-79

There is no way someone in their mid 20s is middle aged!