I have been 54 for a little while now and I’m starting to feel it. Being 54 has a few ups and downs in my reckoning…..
Me at 54
The Ups
I have a certain contentment and sense of well being. Even being able to cycle the short distance into the town centre this morning gave me a nice feeling.
I know where I’m heading when I draw my last breath (John 3:16).
I still daydream about the places I’d like to travel through but will probably need to wait until I retire.
My constant belief that the best is yet to come.
Fairly secure financially with neither too much, nor too little money. Just enough.
I am enjoying life. I love hearing stories about other people, their lives, the funny quirky things that happen.
It is such a joy to hear my daughters (one 16, the other 18) talk about their futures and to see where their aspirations could take them.
Physically I’m still in reasonable shape but I could do much better. In races (running) I still manage to come in at about the 30/100 mark which isn’t too bad.
The Downers
My body is creaking a little bit….
In common with this middle age lark my eyesight is becoming longer and longer. This means I need my glasses much more these days, for anything in within arms’ reach.
My metabolism is slowing down. I’m gradually getting heavier as I hit 11 stone earlier this year. Besides, I simply feel heavy and sluggish these days. I shouldn’t allow this creeping trend to carry on.
Mentally I’m not as sharp as I have been before. This is hard to pin point but the easiest example is being confused by a spreadsheet at work which ought to be very simple. Making the sideways move from the murky world of crime, rehabilitation and justice to my local authority has turned out to be more complex and trickier than I expected. Ten years ago I would have slotted in quicker.
My head hair continues to become thinner. Apparently I even have the odd grey hair but I am in denial of that as I believe it’s blonde. If I go a few days without shaving, my stubble does have a greyish element on my chin; so that’s the only grey concession I’m making. I think I used to have hairy legs as a young man and now I don’t at all. I can never understand men who dye their hair and the like. While I’m happy to grow old, I’m not so sure about my eye brows growing!
In my fifties I seem to have needed a lot of dental treatment, mostly replacing older mercury amalgam fillings where decay has seeped underneath, or in between my teeth caused by insufficient flossing.
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