What Does It Feel Like to Be 53 Years Old?

I'm sure you who are not yet golden would think that you would feel old, or even look old by this time. I thought the same, too... before. 

When I reached 50 and now at 53, nothing really feels different... to me. This is because this stage or age now is my reality. Wherever you are, that is your reality. 

At 53, this is now my reality. 

I lost my father on my birthday a year ago; he who was my pick-upper any time of the day. I now am taking care of my elderly mother (she's turning 80 years old this year) from a distance since she doesn't want to stay in the big city. I am glad my brother is not married and so he is not whisked away by a wife and can stay with our mother. 

I hear horror stories about taking care of older parents but thankfully for me, I don't experience those. Thank God, my mother is healthy and is Ms. Optimism through and through. She doesn't entertain problems and always looks at the bright side of things; never demands, and is very independent.

I am glad that my husband and I are not neck-deep in our sons' college tuition fee payments because we got them educational plans early on. Yey! Our elder son is graduating this year, and our younger one who is in freshman college made it UP Diliman, a state university--where I also graduated--where tuition is 100% free. Hurray! 

Yes, we are in our last 2 years! This came a little late for us because we never really planned on buying a property or a house here in Manila. We already have properties in our respective provinces. But the opportunity of getting one presented itself, and it was a very good deal, so we indulged! LOL. It actually turned out to be a wise decision because the property we acquired at 3.5M is now valued at 10M or even higher. 

We've been married for 23 years. Some couples would perhaps feel stuck in a long marriage where each partner stops growing. Well, it doesn't apply to us. Ever since we got married, we give each other a space to grow. We respect each other's time and preferences. We've established a good balance of doing things separately and doing things together. 

This we cannot avoid. Of course, as we grow older, especially if our lifestyle was not really on the healthy side, we would really deal with health issues. Thank God, we only have to deal with hypertension, which has been addressed already by our change of lifestyle, keeping healthy, and taking premium Nutritionals.

It's really true that having one source of income is not a wise move. That has been the case with my husband and me. We just relied on our salaries. We focused on work and climbed the corporate ladder. Yes, we did climb and got good pay and privileges, but once you stop working, all these will also stop. My husband is already retired and just started his consulting business. 

We didn't venture into any business or other part-time businesses before. So, aside from insurance, we are still further building our retirement funds. It's a good thing, we found a good opportunity about four years ago, and we took a leap of faith, and right now expanding it outside of the Philippines. 

Do I feel old? Not at all! 

I am enjoying this midlife phase where I am more confident and I know myself much better. I am on to climbing a new mountain! 

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