In youth, we chase success, willing our lives away so that one day we can sit back and enjoy life. When you reach your later years, you look back and wish you’d spent more time enjoying life then, because you never know what tomorrow can bring.
For those reaching and in their 50’s, life truly begins. The kids are leaving the nest and it’s time to take the reins and make it all about you. 50 really is the new 30, and it’s time for women to know their worth.
As the years pass, we begin to gain perspective that wasn’t present when we were younger. We see the pieces of life falling into place, clearing up mysteries, and the older we become, the more life begins to make sense.
Once upon a time, your decisions hinged on the opinions of others, from the car you drove, to the way you cut your hair, the clothes you bought and even what college you were going to attend. Age rescues you from that type of thinking.
Nothing is more important than building relationships with family and friends, and in our formative years, we are so focused on building careers that we put them above family and self.
Additionally, it’s your chance to see the next generation age into adulthood, and dispense sage advice that you have learned along the way. The older you get, the more you know, life, after all, is the ultimate in educational institutions. It’s a privilege to have moments of your life intersecting with theirs and be part of their journey through life.
All of this feeds into the knowledge that we must live life to the fullest and by embracing our aging and celebrating the life that we have had so far, we offer ourselves the best opportunity to enjoy the rest.
- Rather than accepting things as they are, knock doors down and make them what you want to be.
- If you suddenly became aware of your body’s frailty, take steps to strengthen yourself.
- If you find things slipping your mind, start doing crossword puzzles.
- If you don’t have family and friends nearby to socialize with, go find a sociable hobby that allows you to make new friends.
Stanford University’s psychology professional Carol S. Dweck, PhD explains the two mindsets.
- The fixed mindset is the belief that talents or qualities cannot be changed
- The growth mindset is one where you believe you always develop more
The latter is vital to the aging process, as the more flexible and adaptable we are the more we are able to roll with the punches.
Beauty is In the Eye of the Beholder
We are all guilty of defining beauty based on what we see in magazines, movies, and on television. For the majority of us, those standards are unattainable- but we still try. With every passing fashion, we bend and we break as we buy the right brand of makeup, and the clothes to match our trending diet plans. When none of it results in what we had imagined we somehow think ourselves as less than.
When we are young, we don’t possess the wisdom to understand that we are all beautiful in our way. Those passing fashions aren’t beauty; they are simply trends that fade away as the years pass. Wrinkles are the result of a life well lived, with crow’s feet gathering at the corners of our eyes, are reflections of all the memories of laughter we have shared. Our body’s change shape and our hair begins to gray, and that’s real life along with our ability to embrace those results in a more self-aware, compassionate, and confident person.
Beauty isn’t found on the cover of a magazine, but within ourselves.
The things you see in magazines focus on skin deep, forgetting human spirit, compassion, and brain power. Delve beneath your surface and discover what other qualities you possess that contributes to your beauty: courage, kindness, confidences, compassion, creativity, and love.
Every morning before your day begins, ask yourself how you can be beautiful today, and before you lay your head down ask yourself how you achieved it. This type of mentality is often commonplace for the aging woman, as wisdom and life experience has taught her well.
Don’t just look for your own beauty, though, look for the beauty in others, too. Everyone has something to offer, we just have to take the time to see it.
Think of life as the changing seasons, while your spring and summer have dissipated you are in the throes of fall, when the leave’s colors change and fall, ready to welcome the winter.
Every season deserves equal celebration, take time every day to think about something you love about the season of life you’re living now.
Take time out daily to enjoy meditation. It’s a great way to get in touch with yourself and appreciate the beauty within you.
We spend our lives searching for beauty, when all we really needed to do is look inside ourselves.
Taking Care of Your Body
With age comes wisdom, and when we were younger we spent all our time comparing our bodies against magazines to see how we measured up. Forget being hung up on measurements, instead focus on what your body does. The more you focus on what your body can accomplish, the more you learn to love it.
It’s time to focus on being strong, and forget about being skinny. When our focus is on being skinny it’s because we’re worried about what other people think about our bodies, however when we work at being strong- it’s about what our bodies are doing for us, and what they’re capable of. It’s time to start focusing on what your body does for you, rather than getting hung up on how it looks.
That doesn’t mean you should hit the gym and eat whatever you want. Diet can play a huge role in taking care of your body, with the American Journal of or Clinical Nutrition suggesting that adhered to the Mediterranean diet can combat serious chronic illnesses.
Our blood vessels lose their elasticity as we age, and that increases the force with which the blood runs through veins. For menopausal women, the risk of heart disease increases and the Mediterranean diet reduces that risk. That includes plenty of vegetables and fruit, as well as whole grains, olive oil, and moderate wine consumption. The Mediterranean diet is associated with lower risks of heart disease and cancer.
Additionally, our risk of high blood pressure grows as we age, so it’s vital that we reduce our salt intake. Americans get 72% of their salt intake from processed foods, adhering to the Mediterranean diet reduces that risk. High blood pressure leaves us at risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, heart failure, and early death.
Because our stomach acid decreases as we age, it’s difficult for our bodies to absorb B12 from the foods that we eat. Taking B12 supplements daily will help prevent the symptoms before they get a chance to start.
Learn to stop knocking your body by making a list of when it has been at its strongest.
Have you carried a child inside you for 9 months, dealt with accidents, been through surgeries, or ran a marathon? Make a list of those times your body could have given up on you, but didn’t. Look at it every time you start to knock your body.
It’s important that you take time to get cancer screenings, too and to get bone density scans. Ensure that you get an annual checkup, which should include your thyroid, blood pressure, glucose, and cholesterol.
Taking Care of Your Mind
There’s more to taking care of your mind than meditation and yoga, though both of those things are great ways to keep your mind nimble. According to WebMD, there is a whole host of things you can do to keep your mind and body in shape.
Sleep is vital, you might have been quite fine about getting just 4 hours of sleep every night when you were young and chasing a career or dealing with kids, but it becomes more difficult for our bodies to cope with little sleep as we age. Taking time to meditate before bed is an excellent way to ensure you get a restful sleep.
Take time out every morning to enjoy quiet time. Whether it’s for yoga, meditation, or to visualize your day. Even taking time out to read a passage that you find inspiring, anything that allows you to focus on self-renewal. It’s important to be optimistic, so take time to dwell on the purpose and meaning in your life. You should associate with positive people; you don’t want to be surrounded by people who will drain you of your energy with complaints and misery.
Keep your home clutter free and clean, make it a space that you can enjoy and recharge in.
Make sure that you get as much aerobic exercise, which is as simple as taking a long walk. Not only will it help to strengthen your bones, but it will also reduce the risk of heart disease.
Take time to have fun, whatever activities you enjoy are the ones you should take time out to indulge in. Whether that is skiing, backpacking, dancing, or going to a baseball game.
You should take time to find an outlet for your creativity- it stimulates your mind and helps to prevent depression, which can affect your memory.
Don’t be afraid to talk to your doctor about depression, it’s a common occurrence for women over 50. The symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, sadness, loss of hope, lapses in concentration, and feelings of worthlessness.
Doing More for Yourself
Up until this point, life has probably been about taking caring of and making everyone else happy. You have been putting everything into making your marriage successful, and you have poured your energies into making a happy home for your children.
At some point, you’ve put your career on hold for the benefit of others, and you have had to make decisions that you didn’t serve your happiness. It is part and parcel of your existence, and that’s just the way it is for many women.
There’s no better time than now to take control of life and start doing more for yourself than now.
You’re 50, enthusiastic, flourishing, and ready to tackle life. It’s time to kiss guilt goodbye, and embrace what you love. It’s time to try something new, whether you want to learn a new language, how to play the piano, or you have always wanted to learn how to dance the waltz.
Your 50’s are the perfect time to step outside your comfort zone and throw yourself into something new.
It’s time to embrace your confidence!
There’s nothing sexier than the confidence that life experience brings. While aging might sound scary, living in fear will hold you back from living a full life. So, keep moving forward, learn every day, and listen to your heart.
Don’t be afraid to be bold, present, brave, and fearless.
Hobbies Make the Woman
Whether your interests are in arts, sports, in the home, on the water, or in the gym, you should feel free to dive in headfirst. You can take up a hobby that allows you to socialize with others, or to enjoy time on your own. They can be as cheap or as expensive as you want them to be, and they will help shape your lifestyle, and connect you with likeminded people, and energize you.
When it comes to hobbies for women over 50, there is no limit. From book clubs, painting, gardening, golfing, and sewing to swimming, dancing, or jazzercise, playing an instrument, and calligraphy, whatever your point of interest, there is a hobby that will bring out the best in you and give you new meaning.
Finding a hobby that you love and that provides you with social engagement is vital to your mental health and overall happiness, especially if you don’t get to experience a lot of socializing with your family and friends.
Letting Go of What Matters Less
Saying Goodbye To Judgements
Remember when you were young and you would get dressed thinking about what others may think of your outfit? Versus now, when chances are you aren’t too worried about what other people think of how you are dressed or what you are wearing, you’re concerned much more with whether you like it or how you feel in it. This is so liberating, a new mindset where you dress and how you look aims to satisfy you and promotes your confidence, instead of appealing to the masses.
Needing to Be Validated
You probably felt pressured to go out at the weekend, even when you weren’t interested, couldn’t afford it, or just didn’t want to. You were more willing to spend time with people that you didn’t care for, and chances are when someone disagreed with your point of view you wanted to argue until they agreed.
You wanted to hear those delicious words; “You’re right.” Now you’re at a point in your life where you realize the stress of those situations just isn’t worth your time.
None of those things adds value to your life, so if it isn’t adding value, what’s the point?
Your 50’s are the perfect time to start letting go of things that don’t matter, and to start embracing everything that you truly love about life.
If it doesn’t contribute to harmony in your life, thus happiness, then kiss it goodbye. If that just happens to be a keen interest in the music of Phil Collins or Barry Manilow or avoiding family squabbles that only harm your peace of mind, then so be it – own it!
Expectations from Others
At this point in life, it becomes much less important what others want from you, and it becomes more important to satisfy your own needs and desires. You come to realize that life is short, and you want to live to its fullest!
The guilt trips from others that used to drive you seem comical now, as you tread on your own road to happy destiny, and leave the external influences fluttering in the wind.
Grab the Right Attitude: It’s a Whole New Life at 50!
Hitting 50 is certainly a milestone, as the stress related to forging a career, settling down and raising children fades into the rearview mirror and it’s time to shift down a gear. We start to feel more content and it’s time to truly enjoy life! It only gets better from 50, with life getting better with each decade.
According to Psychology Today, the older we get the happier we are, and as we kiss our 30’s goodbye, our happiness grows.
Our worry tails off as we say farewell to the stress and anger that we have been experiencing, and in comes enjoyment and happiness. In fact, our happiness continues to grow the older we get, with peak happiness continuing until the age of 85!
With age comes wisdom, which offers us the ability to be in tune with our thoughts and feelings.
It also becomes easier for us to screen the negatives out of our lives and instead focus on the positives. Older people find it easier to dismiss their temper in favor of savoring enjoyable experiences.
Midlife crises seem to be a thing of the past, with improvements in education, life expectancy, and healthcare.
It’s fair to say, rather than life beginning at 50, it’s simply a new life. We no longer have to worry about the wobbles that 50 somethings of past generations have. The difficult decisions are behind us and it’s time to start enjoying life.
Think of the first half of your life as the research period where you have spent your years discovering who you are and what you like and in the latter half you can start fulfilling it.
Consider the man who coined the term midlife crisis in the first place. Elliot Jaques was a Canadian psychoanalyst and at the age of 48, in 1965, he coined that term. Between 1965 and his death in 2003, aged 86, he wrote twelve books, got married, served as a consultant to the US Army and the Church of England. It’s safe to say that the latter half of his life was when some amazing things happened. It’s just a fact of life that older people have the ability to view their life circumstances more positively, forgetting their bad experiences.
It’s all about having the right attitude.
Therefore, the next time you find yourself having negative thoughts, remind yourself that you are a warrior, forging your own happiness and harmony.
Creating Harmony in Life, Mind and Body to Promote Happiness
Happiness is our primary mission in life, and we need to make deliberate decisions that will promote our happiness. We don’t always make the right decisions, and sometimes we have to make choices that put others first. Everyone has the potential in life to create harmony within their lives, creating that harmony is vital to our overall happiness. Now that you’ve entered the autumn of your life, you can start to make decisions for yourself.
Do more of what you want, and don’t be afraid to say no to the things that you’re not interested in.
If there have been arguments with family or friends and it’s still causing you upset, then it might be time to bury the hatchet in a bid to heal your wounds. Life is short, and it’s important to make decisions that will better you.
Another vital aspect of creating harmony is spending time with people who empower you. Rather than wasting time, you create drama or drain you of your energy, invest quality time with those who lift you up and warm your soul.
Don’t wait until you’re in a panic over a health issue, be proactive. Go to the doctor for regular checkups, and ensure that you exercise regularly and eat a well-balanced diet. All of this feeds into your mental and physical health, both of which are vital to creating harmony and happiness in life.
Don’t worry about creating structure and habits; inject some excitement into your days, whether it’s with your regular hobby, or with day trips and vacations.
Life is short, get out there, and do what you love, enjoy each day and make it matter!
Do all the things that promote a well state of mind to bask in joy and happiness as your life begins at 50!
Final Thoughts
They say age is just a number, but being 50 sure feels good. With the advancement of technology and life expectancies growing, there’s much less to worry about when it comes to aging.
It’s the prime of your life and you don’t have to feel guilty about the decisions you make, because you’re making them in your best interest. Certainly, the best way to ensure we enjoy our later years is by keeping our bodies and minds as fit as possible.
The most effective way to maintain your health:
- Limit your salt intake- heart disease is the number one killer of women, and foods high in salt feed that risk
- Avoid processed foods
- Take supplements
- Eat a well-balanced diet (think of the primary components enjoyed in the Mediterranean (fruits, vegetables, olive oil, and whole grains), where life expectancies are the longest and depression rates are the lowest)
- Exercise regularly, including aerobics and weight lifting. The stronger your body is, the less likely you are to deal with a life limiting injury
- Create social circles to ensure you have regular human contact, whether it’s a book club, church group, or people in a dance and language class. You want to have a group of likeminded people you can spend time with
- Fill your time with hobbies and activities that you truly love, whether it’s painting, gardening, or water skiing.
- Don’t be afraid to cut people from your life that are sapping your energy and happiness with their negativity and complaining. It’s easy to allow these people to waste your time, as you offer them compassion. However, if it’s affecting you, you have to let them go.
- Be proactive about your health- ensure you get your cancer screening, checkups, and relevant health checks completed on time.
- Take 10 minutes out of every day to meditate, whether you do this before bed or first thing in the morning (or both). Meditation (or yoga) contributes to both your physical and mental health.
Life is always more enjoyable when we have our health. Looking after our overall health feeds into our ability to do the rest of those things- when limited by health conditions we struggle to get out and socialize- which can have a severe impact on our mental health and wellness, thus reducing our lifespans.
It’s time to let go of the hurt and frustration you have dealt with, forget the sadness you have experienced, make peace with those people you are in conflict with, and embrace who you are, warts and all.
You’ve spent the first half of your life learning about yourself, and learning about the world- 50 is time to put that wisdom into action and put your energy into creating an atmosphere of harmony that will feed your happiness.
So, if you truly want to enjoy your 50’s and beyond, you need to treat yourself right, put yourself first, and understand that you need to be fit enough to take advantage of all the wonderful things this world has to offer, both physically and mentally.
Most important, remember to celebrate your life ladies, because your NEW life has just begun!
