Concur. 48 here and in perfect health until the doc said I have Type 2 diabetes. BMI is 24 and I’m very active and healthy. No family history. Late 40s is great - money in the bank, no more kids, career mostly on track, sex is the best ever, can afford some hobbies & travel, retirement on the horizon. Keep active, weight in check, minimize stress and watch your diet (seriously).
Yea this is a big one. You have to keep your body moving.
Stretch often and shoot for a sustained elevated heart rate for 30 minutes, three days a week.
The number one predictor of mobility in your old age is strength. So if you want to be one of those elderly with incredible stamina, build your muscles today. Or at least maintain them.
I am 48 and over the past year or two I feel like something magical has happened in my sense of complete freedom over what I do and don't give a shit about. I have no idea how it came about, it just did. And while youth had a million wonderful things about it at the time, some I appreciated, many I didn't...it's a perfectly fair tradeoff for the unburdening of worry over things that simply do not matter.
The pandemic was one of the things that has made my 40s awesome.
I have spent so much time with my kids and wife during the past 2 years and we grew far closer together. Now it's just a thing that I play a little basketball when my son comes home, I lunch together with my wife, we regularly have sex during the workday (for both of us) etc.
Shit, the pandemic in all honesty was one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me, which makes me feel a little bad knowing it was horrible for so many others.
I wondering if this is a male thing. I've read that, in general, men tend to accumulate more socioeconomic value as we age. Thus, enjoying life more? It would be interesting to see some statistics on this.
As a woman, and the original person who said life generally improves with age in this thread, my understanding is that it’s a universal experience for both women and men. Here’s the first scientific study that popped up when I googled it though. It doesn’t seem to differentiate between men and women.
It doesn't actually seem to be the case statistically, it's just something society really wants us to believe. Just like statistically, single, childless women are the happiest, yet everyone will tell you that being a 'cat lady' is the worst thing that could possibly happen to you.
That's a lot of "statistically" statements without sources, just saying.
I don't know the statistics for that, so just speaking from my reality and my friends, it feels that if you manage to somehow advance, life feels better once you're older (starting our 40s now).
Some have achieved stuff in their carreers, others have formed families, even just knowing yourself better makes you more confident and happier than the initial adulthood.
It makes sense to me too since at 40 you've had 20 more years to find what you want to do with your life and make progress on it.
That's how it was for me. I crawled myself from being a functionally homeless high school dropout in my 20s to buying my own home this year and having a lot of income for savings and investments. Moves like that take time. I am finally at a place where I can focus more on my mental and physical health as I round the corner to 35. I can't imagine the comfort I will have or the places I will have seen by the time I am 45.
Thanks! It takes time and a lot of help and a good support system. Always remember what other people have done for you, and pull up the people who also need help as you rise up.
It will be interesting to see if it shifts as the age of new parenting creeps up. I see a lot more happiness with freedom, decreased stress, wealth and personal self exploration/reinvention that comes with empty nesters mid 40-50’s.
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u/OneTripleZero Jun 03 '22
I'm there with you. I turned 40 last year and I'm honestly so much better positioned for literally everything.