Mid-life crisis? You must be 60

[On the Road]

Sixty is the new 40, said a study of older people in Britain who felt in the "prime of life" and much like their grandparents probably did when they were 40.

Research into the biggest and wealthiest consumer group in Britain said life had never been better for the over-50s. They hold 80 per cent of the country's wealth and are courted by politicians and advertisers.

Dubbed "GOTYS" - getting older, thinking younger - 49 per cent said they enjoyed a healthy sex life (with 75 per cent still sharing the marital bed), 19 per cent would try online dating, 10 per cent would consider plastic surgery, and 75 per cent had a positive attitude to life.

A fifth of those over 75 still believed that they were middle-aged and a third considered themselves very attractive for their age.

---snip

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/12/1086749947023.html
(registration required)

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I am not there yet, but I applaud this trend! Eventually, I will be the most enthusasitc GOTY there is!

[lucky777]

1. I feel dead at 40 . . .

I'm in great shape, but I think about death nearly all the time, constantly worried about having a wasted life.

[aquaman]

2. Obsessing about one's own death....

Is a symptom of depression, hope you are okay.

[Skip Intro]

5. What amount of pondering one's own death is normal?

How can you know that the end to all you have ever known is always pending - always getting closer, and that there is no way at all to get out of it - how can a person know this and not wonder what it will be like? Its the biggest event we'll ever experience in this life. And its going to happen, no matter what. And nobody knows first hand what the hell it even is, or what happens, or if its painful.

This kind of scares the hell out of me from time to time.

[aquaman]

7. thinking about death................

and obsessing, thinking about it all the time, are two different things.

[lucky777]

6. Just frustrated at how things turned out . . .

I was an unhappy lawyer at age 30, then went into academics and became a professor, had to move to 5 schools in 6 cities before getting a tenure-track job in rural Ohio which I hate. My ex-girlfriend got pregnant and had my son, overseas! My current girlfriend has teeth problems that I didn't realize ($6000 for braces, etc) and has to borrow $500/month to send home to her parents. We are far from family, I hate where I teach, and I feel stuck. Hope I can figure this out!

[On the Road]

3. Seriously, There's Life After 40

I just turned 50. I have many moments of frustration and despair, but otherwise I'm more at peace than ever.

It's no longer a physical matter for most people. Part of it is just finding an environment where you are appreciated and feel productive, and in which you are always learning. Freud said that the most important things were the ability to work and to love. There's lots ahead.

[finecraft]

4. Read "Still Here" by Ram Dass

I read it at age 44, 3 years ago because I felt like you do. I'm telling you, buy this book....you will never regret it.

Age is opportunity no less
Than youth itself, though in another dress
And as the evening twilight fades away
The sky is filled with stars invisible by day.

Longfellow

[amandae]

8. I think it's just too different in the U.S.

We have such a youth culture, we cater to you the younger you are. I can't imagine a poll in this country getting the same results that this one did in Britain. :shrug:

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. I am 51

Age is just a state of mind........if you don't mind, it don't matter! I totally GOTY

[Striker Davies]

10. I'm nearly 63 and these are the best years ever!

I got very fit this year, lost about 20 pounds, still walk 4-5 miles each day or ride the bike for an hour in a very hilly location, play golf 2-3 times a week. I had one book published in the US back in 1996, wrote several others, still trying to get another one published. But I've started a project of a kids' SF Trilogy, and I've had wonderful luck in getting a Catholic High School to take the first book as a class project for the Gifted Student stream and work with me, ripping it apart until it's the book they would love to read. Then I intend to sell a few million copies.

Meanwhile, courtesy of President Raving Lunatic, world tensions are such that every corporation and government department in Australia is looking to get Disaster Recovery Plans developed, and that's what my little consulting firm does, so we are starting to get very busy and will soon be very rich.

Then I can properly retire and write the next ten books (after the kids' SF Trilogy is finished) at my rural property up the coast of New South Wales and get my golf handicap below 20.

Screw getting old. That's for silly people.