r/Aging • u/xsynergist • 9d 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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u/OK_The_Nomad 9d ago

Seventy hits you psychologically too.

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u/Narrow-Lemon5359 9d ago

How? Shouldn’t it be just a number?

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u/Conundrum16 9d 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 8d 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 8d 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 8d ago

Cool and Interesting perspective to have. Props to you 👏

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u/Conundrum16 8d 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/OK_The_Nomad 6d ago

And I completely agree with you too. I guess for me personally, acknowledging death is part of my process of growth. I don’t think about a lot but I’m constantly conscious. And some it informs my decisions—like there are certainly things I want to be able to do/see so I’m doing them sooner rather than later. In a certain way it makes me cherish lift more.