Embracing the changes that come past age 50

Everybody wants to live long, yet most people also frown at, or dread, aging.

Once they hit or start to approach 50 years, lots of people start to panic about their future. Retirement, deteriorating health, changing social status etc.

Others start to look back to the life they have lived. Most times, this leads to a feeling that they didn’t live to their full potential and the result is late-onset mid-life crisis.

These reactions usually stem from refusal to accept the changes that are happening within and around you.

If you can just bring yourself to view such changes positively, you can set yourself on a path of aging gracefully.

You’re right where you should be

It is common for people to feel as though they have missed some milestones as they get older. This can mostly be triggered when you compare your life, finances, and even children with your peers’.

Did you choose the wrong spouse, career path, or financial investment? Do you feel like you didn't discipline your children properly, or failed to guide them?

Dwelling on such metrics can make you feel as though you have underachieved. Over time, this can result in resentment not only for yourself, but for your life and the people around you.

The truth, however, is that you are right where you should be. You played with the cards that life dealt you with and made the most of it.

Once you view your life through this angle, you will start appreciate what you have done with your life. You will also open your mind to recognizing present opportunities and appreciating the people in your life.

Approach changes, within and outside, with a positive attitude

Many elderly people find it hard to accept that their youth is gone. They, therefore, prefer to live in denial and try to cling to things that will make them feel younger.

You will see such people date try to keep up with youthful fashion and trends. This is not a healthy approach.

Instead, accept the changes that come with advanced age. You don’t have to give up on being fashionable.

Keep up with fashionable trends that are appropriate for your age. And also hang out with your age mates as well.

Your body is also probably not as strong as it was a decade ago. Don’t push yourself into situations that your body can’t handle anymore, especially in the gym.

You will also notice lots of changes in areas of your life that you considered stable, e.g., the workplace. You may notice new technologies, systems, and practices being introduced frequently.

Older people have a tendency to resist such changes, opting to stick with the familiar. Don’t be one of them. You will only be holding yourself, and the company, back.

Do things for you, on your terms

As you get older, you start to realise that lots of societal standards have no value. By now, you have experienced and learned so much that you know what really matters.

You also recognise that some things may that are important to you are not important to others, and vice versa. The trick is to be okay with that.

With this enlightenment, you can live a very liberating lifestyle. For example, filling your wardrobe with comfortable clothes rather than what’s on fashion.

Or pursue the hobbies you deserted in your 30s because your friends didn’t think they were cool.

It is also a time to live and let live. There are a lot of things that the youth and other will be involved in that don’t make sense to you.

Their behaviours, trends, lifestyle, social life, music, etc. Trying to police them will only make you a miserable old man or woman. Let them live their youth with the liberty that you loved yours.

You still are, and will always be, valuable

So, your children have grown up and have gone on to start their families, businesses, and careers.

Your little boys and girls no longer need your care as much as you were used to. In fact, now they are the ones that take care of you.

At work, people that are much younger than you are being appointed to key positions. Sometimes even positions that are senior to yours. New technology has also rendered some of your most valuable skills obsolete.

Such developments can make an older person resent themselves, and feel like they have nothing to offer anymore. Keeping such thoughts in your mind for long can cause low self-esteem, or even depression.

In truth, you have a lot to offer. Your children, the young people rising in your workplace, and even your community could still benefit from your experience.

Guide them and offer your insight based on the wisdom you have accumulated over the years.

Remain a student of change, always

From young adulthood, life becomes generally predictable for most people: build a career or business, start a family, raise your children, and wait for retirement.

From 50 and above, life starts to throw some unfamiliar changes. The world around you will also start to change as the younger generation takes charge of key areas of society.

The best thing you can do for yourself is to remain teachable, adapt, and embrace the changes in your body, your personal life as well as professional life.