Design The Life You Love
Enjoy An Active Life Over 50
Enjoying your life at any age is the goal but turning 50 years old is a real milestone for many. And especially when you consider that it’s a half a century. Some people choose to celebrate their 50th birthday with a big birthday bash or some other memorable event. Others find it all a bit depressing and would rather put their head under the covers and forget the whole thing.
Then there are those that take a milestone like this as an opportunity to re-evaluate their life and make some changes or to totally redesign their life.
Fear about future
It’s a bit of a wake up call for many and they realize they really are aging. They start to get more concerned about the future, including if and when they will ever be able to retire. They think more of what their financial situation will allow them to do in the coming years.
There’s often a growing concern about health and fitness too. You start noticing that you are looking and feeling older,there are more wrinkles than before. We have to accept that changes in our skin, hair eyes and various other changes are quite normal. The more you’re past 50 the more changes you’ll notice.
Whatever your feelings are about aging you can’t stop time, but you can choose what you want to do with it. You can take more control over how you’ll live, whether it’s in your 50s, 60s, 70s and beyond you can help yourself age smarter and healthier. With the proper care some look younger than their age It is after all your choice how you live, so choose wisely.
A new chapter in your life
As the saying goes today’s fifty is yesterday’s forty and when you look and see many 50 years olds they 
could easily pass for 40. So just because you’ve become one of the many men or women over 50 it’s not the end of the world. And it’s certainly not the end of life as you know it. That all depends on you!
It’s just a new chapter in your life. It’s also an opportunity for new beginnings if that’s what you want. Just as before you are still the main character in this next life phase too. Hopefully you’ve become wiser and smarter, and now you get to choose how you want this new phase of your life to be.
How to have a good life
Will your life be dull and boring or will you make it be fun, interesting and exciting? It’s not surprising if a milestone birthday or event stirs up some emotions and has you reflecting more on your past and wondering about the future.
Many start to ponder on what they’ve accomplished in life so far. What have been your greatest achievements? And you may also be thinking about what your biggest disappointments and regrets have been.
While you reflect on what’s already past, don’t stay and dwell there too long because that’s in the past. And now it’s time to move on as you live the next chapter of your life. If you keep living in the past you’ll miss out on the present and future. Will you let it be dull and boring or will you make it fun, interesting and exciting?
Create your life
Contemplate your future and make a conscious decision on what you want your life to be like now that you are past the 50 year mark. What actions are you going to start taking to make what you want in the next phase of your life a reality? Are you content with your life as it is or are you going redesign your life?
Life is full of ups and downs
Life is a series of ups and downs no matter what age we are. As we do get into our 50’s, 60’s and 70’s and even beyond life can often bring many different types of challenges. Often it’s things you wouldn’t even think about when they’re younger.
It’s common by 50 to start feeling our age more. Some things become more challenging for us, we notice joints start to wear out and often have a few more health challenges. Things we did when we were younger take more effort.
Besides the changes we notice in ourselves we become also more aware of changes or challenges in family and friends too. By this time if you still have them around, your parents are elderly and may need more assistance too.
You’ll often find yourself faced with situations that you haven’t had to deal with before like your kids leaving home. it can be tough trying to come to terms with an empty nest, or your kids getting married and possibly becoming a grandparent yourself.
What type of retirement do you want?
If you haven’t given it much serious thought before, once you hit 50 you’ll be thinking more about your retirement years and if you will be able to manage financially. This has become more of a concern with the global economy being as it is, and job security seems a thing of the past.
Some have never had enough money to properly live for today, never mind invest for the future. With pensions constantly under threat, and many investments greatly devalued there’s more urgency to protect yourself for the future.
Maybe you will choose to never retire
Whether by choice or circumstance we are seeing more people than ever working beyond their retirement age. For those that want to continue working I think it’s great! Many love what they already do, or they may choose to do something else that they enjoy more. Some even become successful entrepreneurs in their later years.
working not only keeps them connected with the outside world but they feel more fulfilled, have a purpose and they’re making a little money too. Sadly on the other hand it’s not uncommon to see other seniors that are in poor health. The last thing they want to be doing is going out to work, but unfortunately many have no other choice.
It’s difficult for us to accept that life is short and old age comes on surprisingly quickly. Most of us are not prepared in many ways. We could have done a lot of thing differently and been better equipped in not only the financial realm but in health and fitness levels too.
How to spend money wisely
So many of us buy things that we don’t need. Sometimes it may be just to impress others. Most of us looking back over
our lives would have made better decisions on what we spent our money on. Many of us realize that we would have chosen experiences over materialistic things.
So often it’s those material trappings in our life that keep us stuck. We have bigger homes to live in to hold the stuff we’ve accumulated that we mostly never needed. We end up putting things away and often never think of them again until it’s time to move on. These are usually the very things we’re trying to unload in later years. And most of it is meaningless.
Make your life meaningful.
Be careful with your money and have something set aside for that rainy day. Even if things are not what you planned and hoped for you’ll be glad you have something to fall back on. When it does come to your retirement age, whatever that age may be for you, be as prepared as possible.
It’s important to do what you can while you can and with what you have. Don’t leave the important things that you want to do until it’s too late. Many people have regretted the fact that they waited too long to do something they planned to one day do.
Health and aging
There are a number of physical changes that become more apparent too. For most past 50 and even younger the fight against the ravages of age is on. Many begin the search for anti aging products and ideas to help maintain their youth for as long as they can.
You notice more lines and wrinkles on your face, your hair may be not only be going gray, it’s thinning and for many men their hair has gone altogether. Even those blessed with great eyesight start to notice they are struggling to read the small print and now have to surrender to reading glasses.
The importance of self care
Often your eye site just isn’t as sharp as it used to be and sometimes this is due to cataracts. The good news is when you get cataract surgery your vision can improve dramatically. Many have hearing issues finding that they need the volume turned up a notch or two higher.
Fitness level and keeping weight under control may become a bit harder for a lot of people over 50 too. There’s numerous reasons for this, including hormones and the fact that we may not be as active as we were even a few years ago. The smart thing to do is to adjust rather than give up. Some of the workouts that you used to do can be switched out for more age and flexibility appropriate options.
Practice preventative health care and fitness
It’s not unusual that when you’re over 50, health related issues such as arthritis, diabetes, high cholesterol and blood pressure are also more prevalent. However, it’s important to keep in mind that many of these challenges can be overcome or managed by making some simple lifestyle changes.
Our attitude has a lot to do with how we cope with changes in our life, including getting older. If we constantly think negative thoughts we get negative results. Switch it over and say positive things to yourself, your brain likes to give you what you say you want. So keep it positive!
Positive thoughts about life
A good positive attitude and keeping a focus on more positive thoughts will make life a lot more pleasant for you and everyone else around you. When challenges do arise some people are so overcome by them that they totally give in to them right away. Others on the other hand will handle them by becoming proactive. They’ll make every effort to overcome or improve the situation they find themselves in.
Maintaining physical, mental and emotional health as well as your independence well into old age is clearly what you should be striving for. Learn to handle stress and anxiety proactively with meditation, yoga , music, fun, laughter and anything else that works for you.
What is the best life?
Of course there are those that will be convinced that once you are over the 50 mark that it’s going to be all downhill from now on, that the best of life is over. But that doesn’t have to be the case, unless that’s the way you want it. For many the best in life comes later in life. Sometimes the struggles become fewer and they have less problems than ever.
Things may change and there are situations where many of us already have or will have health and other issues that may get worse over time. However, having a good attitude and not constantly giving in to negative thoughts really can make all the difference in how you experience your life at any age.
Live the life you love
We never know how long our life will be! Some go way before their time, or what we would realistically
expect their time here to be. Many don’t ever get to reach the age of fifty. Everyday there’s someone new turning 50 but remember age is only a number. Many function really well into their 90’s and beyond.
I can assure you that when you get to be 60 or in your 70s plus you’ll look back and think, boy 50 really was young. Make the most of your life as it is now, and live life to the fullest!
We can change our minds about a lot of things
We can also change our attitude. Some people cultivate a positive attitude around aging and others get to be a real Negative Nelly. In the end it’s your choice. You can be misery in life at any age not just when your over 50. Or you can focus on hope, wonder, excitement and purpose.
Surround your self with good positive people, just like negativity it’s contagious! Always be grateful, appreciate and make the best of what you have.
Adequate health care coverage
Needless to say, it is important to maintain your health and with it to have adequate health insurance and coverage. Always do your homework when looking for health coverage as it appears that a number of companies have ceased offering retirement health insurance.
Healthcare can become a huge concern for so many people. Depending where in the world you live finding options can become a huge expense. It’s important to consider these types of things while you are still young enough. Take care of things like health insurance coverage for your retirement years
Keep life interesting at any age
If you have worked hard and are now considering retiring you may want to think about having some fun. Start doing things that you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe there’s something totally new for you on the horizon.
Hobbies are great! And there are so many different types to choose from. You may want to use some of your time by helping make a difference in the lives of others. You can be sure that this will also make a difference in your own life too.
You must find things to do in retirement
Some retirees have a real problem adjusting to their new life and it’s not surprising. It’s totally unfamiliar to them, almost every aspect of their life has changed. Many feel that they no longer have purpose in their life. They also may miss certain aspects of their old work life, especially the interaction with others.
Volunteering is very rewarding and fulfilling for many seniors. You’ll probably have more time on your hands once you do retire so use it wisely! Is it time to give your life a makeover?