Or is it onward and upward?
I feel Old. I look terrible. I’m tired. I hear and read this far too often for my liking. Often from people I think should “know better”. It really needs to stop!
Middle Age/Midlife/Midpoint is my home for now. The uncomfortable part where you feel different in some ways — older but nowhere near old or over. Perhaps with a nagging sense, this is a better time than you realise. And to be honest, lucky to be enjoying a life stage, my forbears did not.
I’m pretty comfortable here and take the obvious positive — I have made it this…
It was nasty but could have been a lot worse
I had COVID-19 last March. Not for the first time in my life, I was an early adopter.
My case was fortunate, with no hospitalization or severe breathing difficulties — instead, three weeks in bed with very low energy.
My wife showed signs just before me (and back then, the details were sketchy along with limited testing availability), but it didn’t stop her from carrying on with her hectic routine. We believed it was a mild case of seasonal flu/a a winter bug.
I got an early heads up on the case care of my whoop band, the data of…
So simple — yet it took a pandemic to get me started
As someone who usually is physically active and playing sport three or four times a week, it has been very frustrating to have my wings clipped by the pandemic.
But there has been an upside.
Walking.
On my own. With my family. Fast (thanks to one peloton) power walks or slower rambles.
It is a chance to clear my head of the negativity and stress that thinks it has a license to come and stay whenever it wants.
Calls thanks to my handsfree headphones. Listening to audiobooks &…
I started a book club with the good people of Aging2.0 in lockdown. I’m fascinated by all things related to an ageing society and realised I was spending a lot of time (and money) on books about this topic. I found them inspiring but really wanted to get more from the authors and thought I was not alone, so thought I’d do something about it.
I had never been a member of a book club in my life and wasn’t much of a reader as a child, so was a bit daunted. I figured I’d give mine a twist of…
We all have a Magic Mirror.
They become more powerful as we age.
Mine, for example, shows a version of myself from the mid-90s.
The wisdom from experts in this field is that we all see ourselves as between 10 and 20 years younger than we are (at least in chronological terms).
I think (and act at least according to my family) as I did in my Thirties. It is true of everyone I know around my chronological age.
In every marketing research group, I have ever been to featuring people close to/retired. They all picture themselves as c20 years…
There has been a lot of discussion in the media about Ageism as a result of Covid19. It isn’t new, but the spotlight has been on in a way it usually isn’t.
The impact felt by Care Homes, the heavy-handed blanket stay at home message to all those over 70 and some of the age-based choices on who does/doesn’t get treatment show very clearly that Society has a way to go in coming to terms with more of us living longer.
The imagery and tone of this coverage make it even harder to stomach wrinkly handed imagery, gravitation to end…
julian Harcourt
Owner greyafro 50+ marketing, contractor/freelancer
