Does Life Really Begin at 50? 7 Things I Realized at Age 49

If there’s one thing people in their 40s can agree on it’s that everything feels a little… ho-hum. In fact, according to Dartmouth College Professor David G. Blanchflower, the most miserable age to be is 47. How does he figure? He looked at data from 132 countries and found the happiness U-Shape stands for 132 of them. With or without controls, the answer is the same.

The happiness U-shape is also known as the happiness curve, which just happens to be a book about midlife transition by Jonathan Rauch. The author himself experienced that ho-hum feeling in his 40s and simply did not know why! He should have been as happy as he’d ever been, but he wasn’t which is when he discovered the curve.

Ultimately, Rauch uses studies and data to demonstrate that your psychological well-being declines the older you get until you reach 50 and it starts to climb again. It starts dipping in your 20s and 30s and nosedives in the 4th decade before picking back up again. So, it seems like life might just begin at 50. Or, at the very least, life gets much better!

That midlife slump we often experience is over nothing, but it isn’t a crisis. At least, not as we typically think of a midlife crisis. It isn’t about rushing out to buy a sports car or sneaking around behind your partner’s back. A midlife crisis brings reckless behavior, but the slump is just the natural transition of life.

Time is passing and we feel that acutely in our 40s. There isn’t necessarily anything wrong, not with your life, or career, or mental health, or family, or anything… it’s just… your 40s.

With that in mind, I’d like to address several things I realized at age 49.

1. ) You Already Know What You’re All About

Oh, you’ve already seen some things, so what’s so scary about turning 50? Literally nothing. We’re half a century in and I know exactly what makes me tick, I know what doesn’t work for me anymore, I know what does, I know what I love, what makes me happy, I have my strengths nailed down, and I get it.

This next stage of my life is about taking control and choosing my destiny. I have everything I need to make conscious decisions to effect positive change in the next decade. Now is my time to design the life that is true to me.

2.) You’re Young Enough To Make It Happen

If you walked onto public transportation would people dive to get up to give you a seat? No, you’re 50, not 90! The 50 of today is nothing like the 50 of yesteryear. The Golden Girls? Those characters were in their 50s when the show first aired so it’s safe to say things have changed quite a lot since then when you consider Jennifer Aniston, Sandra Bullock, Paul Rudd, and Adam Sandler are in their 50s.

Today’s 50-year-olds are fitter, healthier, and far more youthful than at any point in history. You have the knowledge and you have the means, you are still young enough to make anything happen. The question is what do you want?

3.) The Rat Race Is Done

You’re still young enough to do whatever you want, but you’re smart enough to recognize that you’re too old to get caught up in the rat race. There’s a reason it has that name. It’s relentless, stressful, and fast-paced, and at 50 that’s not what you’re interested in. Why would you want to keep running on a wheel that leads nowhere good? It doesn’t matter how fast you are, that wheel will keep on spinning.

When you were younger you might have gotten a buzz from that life, but now you’re more clear-eyed than bright-eyed and you don’t need that. You know that time management and pace are the best way to stay at the top.

You’re far too young to retire, even if you can afford it. When we talk about retirement, we still have that traditional view of what that looks like — it’s hopping on a cruise, puttering in the garden, kicking back with a pipe and slippers.

You are way too young for that! You still have a lot of life to live, a lot of things to give, and knowledge to share, skills to pass on, and the energy to do all of it. There’s a difference between dipping out of the rat race and giving up on pace altogether.

Once upon a time, you had to make compromise after compromise and you might have chosen to play it safe, those days are over. Now you can do whatever it is you want and whatever is right for you. You want your life to matter? Go out and make it matter.

4.) You Know There’s Time

One of the greatest things about hitting your 50s is you have time to do what you want to do. The kids are getting older and if they haven’t flown the coop yet, they’re at least self-sufficient.

It’s your time to shine, which means you can take an extended vacation and travel. You can cut back on working hours and pick up a hobby or side project. It’s whatever you want it to be, your time has never been more yours than it is now and moving forward.

5.) You’re Immune To Judgment

At this point in your life, you’re finally truly coming into your own and with that acceptance comes confidence. The more confident you are, the less affected you are by the judgments or opinions of others.

You reach a point where you feel almost immune to judgment, even your own. That’s the sweet spot you’ve been waiting your entire life to find, it’s the opportunity to finally do what makes you happy!

6.) You Make Conscious Decisions

The benefit of all the wisdom you have picked up is finally paying off because now you make conscious decisions. You have the knowledge and now you have the experience, there is no better combination.

As author Catherine Pulsifer aptly writes, “Our ability to achieve success depends on the strength of our wings gained through knowledge and experience. The greater our knowledge and experience, the higher we can fly.”

7.) You Have A Lot To Give

You spend the first 40+ years of your life developing, learning, becoming your true full self. You become yourself by assimilating all of that learning, through observing, taking advice, developing skills, being a mentor and a mentee, and watching the behaviors of others.

As you mature you learn to filter it all appropriately and then what do you do with it? Well, hopefully, you pass that onto the next generation because you have a lot to give and it would be a shame to keep it to yourself. You don’t have to do so formally, it’s meaningful and satisfying regardless.

Life begins the day you’re born, but studies do seem to suggest that 50 is the decade where we finally appreciate it. So, if you’re in your forties right now and you wonder why you don’t feel all that happy, you don’t need to panic!

Better times are coming and 50 is when the plan seems to finally come together. The only question now is what you plan to do to make it all come together in your life?