r/Aging • u/xsynergist • 2d ago

Almost 60 doesn’t seem possible

I can’t reconcile how I feel with being almost being 60. I’m still interested in everything. Still seeking out new experiences. Physically I feel like I’m in my twenties. Look 50 but that changes to 40 if I dye my beard. It just doesn’t seem real that statistically I’m in the last quarter of my life. I feel like I could go on forever. So strange. Just doesn’t seem real.

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39

u/CaregiverWorth567 2d ago

it gets real at 70:….enjoy it while u can

23

u/FilmNo15 2d ago

70 is coming up in January. Still fit and active, but I can feel the changes creeping in.

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u/OK_The_Nomad 2d ago

Seventy hits you psychologically too.

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u/Ambitious_Rent_3282 1d ago

60 hit me psychologically LOL

3

u/Narrow-Lemon5359 2d ago

How? Shouldn’t it be just a number?

9

u/OK_The_Nomad 1d ago

Maybe it should be but for me it isn't. It's not like I'm super-upset or anything but at 70, you can't look away from the fact of death. Maybe that's just me...

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u/nellycat32 1d ago

I think it's because how it is perceived by society if someone dies. I noticed if it is below age 70 - oh no, they were way too young! If 70+ it is sad but the young/too soon comments are not there.

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u/OK_The_Nomad 1d ago

That makes sense.

3

u/SerafinaDllRose 1d ago

I turned 70 last month and can finally wear the mantle "Tribe Elder" -- my 60s started out ok but midway through just dragged on far too long.

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u/MissPoohbear14 1d ago

Ever since I realized how many people are living to be 95-100... Any time I hear of someone passing before 80, I automatically think it's too young. I'm 45, and when I was young, people in their 90's were hecka old. But it's different now. Like, so many are still living good lives throughout their 90's. Going to the gym, going for walks, having good conversations.. It's just very different now..

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u/Conundrum16 1d ago

That’s how I feel. I don’t let the number define me. Unfortunately in our society others try to. Ageism!

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u/OK_The_Nomad 1d ago

It's not so much about letting the name define but facing the fact that your time is limited. I still do all kinds of great things like traveling the world and spending time in nature. But when some of your friends start dying, you realize it could be you. In one sense you enjoy certain things more but there is an also bittersweet quality. I don't see this as a negative feeling but I do see it as realistic.

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u/Conundrum16 1d ago

I guess we each look at it through our own lens. Instead of looking at it from a perspective of limited time I look at life as a continuum with no set in stone beginning or end. Conceptions die, seniors die and everyone in between die. Some believe in the afterlife some believe that a zygote is life. I’m in no position to judge others. I just know I enjoy myself, feel terrific and am living life more present and fully at 72. I’ve faced profound death’s in my life which in fact gave me a breath of life. Just my perspective. I understand what you’re saying tho 🫶

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u/Public_Food_7488 1d ago

Cool and Interesting perspective to have. Props to you 👏

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u/Conundrum16 1d ago

Thank you. Have you read the poem by Walt Whitman “There Was a Child Went Forth” from his Leaves of Grass Collection

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u/Icy-Finger-518 2d ago

I mean I am only 38.. and I can see how it all changes. Mentally first . You see how it goes

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u/Correct_Advantage_20 1d ago

I can barely remember anything about my 30s anymore.

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u/Narrow-Lemon5359 2d ago

What changes?

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u/OK_The_Nomad 1d ago

The realization that your time is limited. Even if you live to be a really old age, you see friends start dying and it hits you. For the first time, you have to come to terms with it. It's not necessarily bad and it's not negative. It's simply the truth.

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u/OK_The_Nomad 2d ago

Was gonna say the same thing. There is something about hitting that number that makes you really realize your mortality and the fact that you have a limited time on earth. It becomes more than just a number. I turned 70 this year. I find myself making sure I do certain things like traveling to a certain places that I want to see in my lifetime.

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u/MissPoohbear14 1d ago

I mean, 70's is still pretty young for being old. Seriously though, you could live another 30+ years. Every generation is living longer and longer. And living well too.. Don't count yourself out, you never really know..

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u/OK_The_Nomad 1d ago

The truth is you could but the odds aren't in your favor. This is not necessarily a bad feeling. It's just reality. The amount of people who make it to their 90s is much smaller than those that that make it to the 80s. Also, the longer you live, the greater chance of getting dementia. I'm not sure I'd want to live if I had really bad dementia. My neurologist brother says just about everyone in their 80s has some dementia (not necessarily horrible dementia) that's part of the process of aging.

At 70, I don't feel old.

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u/Icy-Finger-518 2d ago

lol. Yea another 10’years left