I'm a little disappointed I don't have more to say about turning 60. I went back ten years ago to look at what I
wrote here. A couple of quotes:
I can honestly say the cliche applies to me: I'm in the best shape of my life
I can't say that is still the case -- ten years have taken their toll -- but I am still in very good shape and very healthy, especially for someone my age. Still, I have to acknowledge there are peaks I will never again achieve and capabilities lost forever. There are mornings when I wake up so stiff I literally can't bend over far enough to put on pants (lucky I'm working from home, eh?); it eases up with a few minutes of movement. And lord knows I value a nap ever higher. I think the best response to these things is, to some extent, ignore them. I may not be able to do certain things anymore, but I need to behave like I can. Although I often kid around about being an old man, the real danger is that I let that become an excuse for inactivity, at which point it becomes self-fulling. I lose my health because I am convinced I am losing my health. It's not really rational, but I think it's my best shot to behave as if I can achieve new heights, even if I know I can't.
The question that manifests: "Is that all there is?" Not asked in the sense of disappointment and disillusionment with how life has turned out. Just the opposite, in fact. Said out of fear that the best times may be gone, never to return. You just don't see anything like those cherished moments of real joy in the future. "Is that it? Don't I get more?"
I still have this fear, but it is tempered by the knowledge that in the ten years since I wrote it I have still had great and wonderful times. At some point it will be true, that the good times are gone forever. But it wasn't the case ten years ago, and I don't think it will be the case over the next ten years.
Bottom line: I'm 50. It hurts a bit, but I'll live.
I'm 60 and it hurts both a little more and a little less. I have that much more behind me and that much less ahead, but I‘m confident that I will be grateful for that which is ahead.
