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Quote of the Day: Musings on Turning 50
“A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.” — Muhammad Ali
I turn 50 today. Humans make meaning out of randomness, and since we use base-10 math, birthdays ending in zero can be a big deal. I find that 50 is an opportunity for reflection on my life. I always had goals for age 50, some spoken and some just understood. Part of the wonder I have is how I have changed in ways that Bryan of 30 years ago cannot even imagine.
As far as goals, I have checked off the big ones. I married my college sweetheart, whom I started dating in May 1990. We were not married until we were both out of college four years later, but 2020 will mark 30 years as a couple. I don’t know how to live as an adult without Linda.
Linda and I have two wonderful kids, our 17-year-old son, Gil, and our (next month) 15-year-old daughter, Ann Marie. They are our greatest treasures in this world. Since I held Gil in my arms, I wanted him to participate in Scouts, earn his Eagle, and go with him to Philmont. All that has come to pass, including the odd fate that we both earned our Eagle Scout award 5,701 days after the day we were born. Clearly it was meant to be.
Ann Marie is a passionate, alive young lady who is just exactly the daughter I imagined. Not having a sister growing up, I always wanted a daughter, and God gave that to us. Both children love each other, fight less than their parents do, and are as close as I dared hoped siblings could be. And, for the moment, everyone is basically healthy.
Work has not gone as planned at age 20. Then, I was fresh into Psychology and not sure what I was going to do. I wanted to get a Ph.D. in Environmental Psychology, but that was not in the cards. I ended up a House Parent, and later getting a master’s in psychology. That led to my day job of being a therapist in a big organization where I planned to get my license and get out.
Then, I worked on developing a computer game with friends. Ace of Angels was going to be the first game we published. That did not work out as planned. Then I was going to take the Executive MBA and find a new job. That did not happen either, and I wound up as CEO for two and a half years. Maybe that was the ticket? Nope. In the past two years, I have had 10 months unemployed. Today I am as happy as I have ever been at work. Not where I expected at all, in fact, this job came looking for me!
So, I am nowhere on the path for career I thought I would be on at 20, or 30, or 47, for that matter. I had certainly hoped to have a higher income at this point and not be worried about paying for college. I had hoped for more vacations, and maybe even be looking towards a cabin in the woods at this point. But what I really wanted was a sports car. I have never had one, and my father bought one at age 50. That has been for me the symbol of having “made it” that I could buy an impractical car, just for me, just for fun. Well, that is not happening this year, either.
Thoughts and beliefs-wise, Bryan at 20 would be appalled by Bryan at 50. Hypocrisy is no longer a big sin for me, but the lubricant that keeps social interactions smooth. Bryan at 50 likes a nice whiskey on a Friday night, unlike the 20-year-old who could not stand the taste. My son has long hair, which the Democrat young adult I was would never have tolerated, while the Conservative man I am today just shrugs. I just don’t get winded up about the same, or as many things. What I do get excited about has more depth than it used too. I have a much greater sense of what is important. It is easier to focus on what I can control. More peaceful too. Bryan at 20 was in the process of abandoning his faith; Bryan today fights and wrestles for every bit of it he can get, even if the price is ending up lame.
So, I ask myself, what turning 50 means to me. It clearly means I am more comfortable in my own skin. I am well satisfied with who I have been and who I am becoming. I have no idea what is in store for me. I am certain than my personal race is more than half over. It might be a lot more than half over. A very recent thing is that I have moments, not all the time, but moments, where I reflect and think, “It has been a good race to today. I could depart this world and feel my impact has been made.”
Don’t get me wrong, even when I have those moments, I still have much I would like to do. And. And, I am good with things so far. I would not trade a moment, even the valleys, with my darling bride, Linda. It is been worth it to get here. I would not trade a moment with our children. Even my pitfalls have helped to make me Bryan G. Stephens.
Published in Group Writing
What you’ve been missing. I think I’ve been wearing them for at least twenty-five years.
Darn you, Jim. At 81, with a birthday in August, I once thought I was the oldest Ricocheter. Then Kay of MT told me she was an older 81 because her birthday was before mine. Now you tell me I’m in third place because you’re 82.
I used to think I was special.
Sweat pants rule! I have some that look just like regular trousers (from a little distance away), yet they have all the virtues of sweat pants: soft-as-a-kitten interior, elastic waist band that adapts to the amount of food you engulf, loose fitting. I live in my sweats and go anywhere.
Marie thinks I should dress nattier. I ignore her in these important matters.
I feel like I’m 95 years old. Does that count?
Looking back on it, the year I turned 50 was the worst year of my adult life. I had knee surgery, my mother died (not a real tragedy, but mighty inconvenient), and I got a bad Coxsackievirus infection in my mouth so I couldn’t eat or talk for a week. And I was alone, no significant other for a shoulder to cry on.
Bryan, you have been a most valuable Ricochet friend to us all here, and you are due great congratulations!
When I was about 8 my mother took me to a “folk mass”: lots of guitars and so forth. “That’s inappropriate” I exclaimed. ”You’re so conservative”, she admonished me. 50 or so years on and she said exactly the same thing to me last weekend.
Kent you will always be very special……. to Bob
January? 82 in January? Hey @kentforrester, someone here older than us!
Ha ha. You might be right.
Oh, you already found him and you are bellyaching about him. As long as he stays older than me, I’m happy.
Yup.
Wow, another child of 1970. Happy birthday!
I’ll be joining the five-oh club with you this May.
Come on in. The water is fine
Or as my daddy used to say, “It’s better than the alternative.” 😁