Turning 50…

They say celebrating your golden year of existence on this planet is achieving a milestone in your life. Your own contemporaries say…age is just a number…your friends say, you look like your son’s sister. Your younger friends feel you are now middle aged belonging to a different genre and for our elders we are still young. Basically, no one is being truly honest…their perspective is superficial or they simply want to make us cheery. I believe, accomplishing five decades is a triumph and is momentous…a time of celebration and acceptance…a harbinger to set some new goals for future.

I feel every age has its own significance, every year added is a milestone, every phase is a discovery, every number is a breakthrough. Sometimes aspirations riding high on a horseback, sometimes passion running cool on a mobike…always family the priority but friends occupying a special niche in the heart. At the threshold of 50s…I’m forced to think what is it that segregates me from the younger and hails me to the senior tribe. My heart still beats 75 times in a minute, I think my sight is perfect 6/6 still…though I now require an aid for reading, I probably indulge in more physical exercise than I used to earlier…so what is it that I’m losing? On introspection I realized that I am only gaining…a few extra pounds, some scarce silvery streaks….temperature tantrums and mood swings (hormones to be blamed)…a few faints lines of crow’s feet forming, reminder of my incessant smile….all things earned over the years.

The rendezvous with life’s most fascinating period which was not always sunshine and rainbows, involved traveling from black and white to a vibrant era, handwritten letters to iMessages, possessing finite number of dresses to a closet full…waiting for occasions to celebrate to everyday being a celebration, kindle or notepads replacing the story books, online games taking over the outdoor fun, acquiring knowledge from books and manuals to the vast ocean of knowledge just a click away…the change in century made the distance between the other part of the world and stars equally achievable. All fairy tale fantasies becoming more believable but always with a zest for keeping pace with time.

The roller coaster ride so far has been full of thrills, new learnings, achievements, disappointments, attainments along with beautiful people sewn into the fabric of my life…some unforgettable and few a blessing. All stages of life being lived up to well and excited about what the future holds. From a carefree,chirpy toddler to a happy-go-lucky teenager transforming into a composed and confident adult partaking responsibilities as they unfolded slowly, metamorphosed into a caring partner and a doting mother…with years just slipping by, jostling and cruising my way emerging stronger than ever (sounds like an adventure…rightly so, as it’s a journey into unknown). At some point of time, it was not easy to declare my age in front of others (as goes the belief, it’s rude to ask a woman her age) but today I feel proud and do not hesitate…this tectonic shift probably occurs in everyone’s life, when maturity replaces puerility.

In this landmark year…standing at the doorstep, of new milestones to be achieved with promising horizons, it is imperative to reset certain perspectives…enjoy life more and evaluate what is important and what’s not. Change does not come overnight. Till the time, energy and vigor allows…keep rocking and keep proving that age is in the mind only, do not allow it to seize your heart or come in the way of your lifestyle and growth. As rightly said “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”

“The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.”― Eleanor Roosevelt