Today is my 50th Birthday.
I have never experienced sadness with a birthday before but today is difficult. 50 is a turning point. I cannot deny that I am now, middle-aged. I have to check a different box on forms. I am no longer "in my 40's". While women today are different than our mothers were when they turned 50, it still represents a half of a century. And I am not sure that I am "aged to perfection" but I liked the picture. In fact, I am no where close to perfection and thankfully, will never be.
I did some checking online to see if I could come up with an idea of how long I might live. I found this life expectancy calculator online and did it. According to my results, I can expect to live 88.62 years. This calculator is published by the University of Pennsylvania (a reputable agency) and asked questions about my family health history and some about mine but did not ask if I had a history of cancer...hmmmmm. Since this one did not ask very many questions about my personal health, I looked for another one and found a site call "Living to 100" and did theirs. According to them, my life expectancy is 85. According to the Centers for Disease Control (2007), my life expectancy is 77.8 years.
So, based on this information I have somewhere between 27.8 and 38.62 years of my life left. That doesn't seem like enough. What should I do with it?
I want to lose 12 pounds, engage in regular physical activity, drink less and eat better, and live debt-free. This sounds a bit like making New Year's resolutions and we all know how that goes. Perhaps my effort should be aimed at just being myself for another 27.8-38.62 years. I will try to be a bit nicer and I would like to travel more and retire. But aside from that...
I think I will head to the back deck of the boat to sit in the sun (without sunscreen) with a plate of chips and cheese and an icy cold beer...Happy Birthday to me.
References
Centers for Disease Control (2007). Life expectancy. Retrieved August 5, 2008 from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm
Foster, D., Chua, C. and Ungar, L. (n.d.) How long will I live? Retrieved August 5, 2008 from http://gosset.wharton.upenn.edu/mortality/
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4 comments:
HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY
And 50 aint' any different than other birthday - CELEBRATE YOU. Welcome to the exclusive club of women who love where they're at in the circle of life.
Remember that 50 is also the new 30 and the new 30's are only 10 years old that's why there are huge generation gaps ;)
Gee, my range was 75 to 92 - do I really want to be 90+ when probably most everyone in my age group is dead and gone that with any progeny there could be such a generation gap there is little to no community?
Live on!!!
Catherine
Happy birthday! I heard about your blog from Abbey, who blogs about her Great Dane named Chelsea. I have a wonderful new Great Dane puppy that I'm blogging about, too. He loves to flop his big old ears back, and Abbey says your Dane also gets its ears "gzumped."
Happy belated birthday!!
I hadn't checked your site in a while... see what I miss?!
I wouldn't let 50 get me down, look on the bright side, now you're eligble for discounts, and that will get you to that debt-free goal you have. ;)
Happy Birthday girl from Chels and I.. I so relate to all you wrote (didnt I read that 50 is the new 40 :)
If you ask me its one hell of a milestone and congrats on being there. I do know at my age Im more centred then I ever was and I have alot more depth that a younger me never had...
Im for the beer, chips and cheese, indulge on your day...x
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