Monday, April 21, 2008

In that strange world of synchronicity, I found this article today. It comes after spending the last three days thinking about birthdays and their implications. While I have no intention of walking around the world, I'm inspired (and in such a timely manner) by this man's dream.

This year will be the big 60 for me, and I've been making plans for my birthday. I've never wanted birthday parties - birthdays were not very important to me, and although I enjoy having my girls (and now grandchildren) home for a celebratory dinner with us, a party was never my thing.

This year, however, I'm going to have one because this next decade seems a huge adventure. When I turned 50, I made big changes in my life and have reaped great benefits from those changes. My life has been so rewarding since I retired (one of the decisions I made was early retirement). While there have been great griefs, challenges, and changes during this decade, I've loved it-- felt freer, younger, happier.

While I made some significant decisions when I turned 50, the date itself held nothing special for me, was not really noted. This year will be different. Turning 60 will entail further challenges and rewards, and moving into this next decade seems quite exciting to me -- and seems of more consequence, more import than any previous decade. No doubt, the experience I've gained along the way and the increased awareness of time flying, influence my feelings that this birthday deserves a celebration and a sense of commitment.

So...I'm doing some evaluation, some planning and listing, some goal-setting. Planning and goal-setting for the date itself and for the decade to follow. I have 6 months to think about it.

7 comments:

  1. I have to agree that the 50's are probably the most amazing years yet. More creativity, more freedom, more appreciation. My father used to tell me that "youth is really wasted on the young" - and I have to agree with him because I appreciate each day so much now. Here's to the 60's being magical!

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  2. Looking back to this anniversary from a few years on, I think you're very wise to think about marking it. 60 is a time to think seriously about past and future; no more silly over-the-hill stuff, but appreciation of every day in reality.

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  3. Marie - I so agree with your father's sentiment about youth being wasted on the young, at least in my case. Oh, I do hope that the 60's will be magical!

    Kay - No, no "over-hill-stuff" - I'm thinking about an all girls party and a croning ceremony. Brief reflection on the past and a looking forward to that third phase of life! I can hope that I'll be a good crone--I've certainly been interested in the idea for a while.

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  4. I never looked at turning a decade like this, thank you for opening my eyes to the future...I'll be 59 this year and feeling over the hill. The 50s have been a blast. Now I have the 60s to look forward to. What will they bring...

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  5. a croning ceremony sounds like a great plan...six months to plan, does that mean your bd is in october? please share the date so those inquiring minded buddies out in your cyberhood can mark our calendars!

    I have always believed that a birthday that ends with a zero needs to be celebrated for an entire year and be filled with many trips (literal and figurative if situations demand) and adventures!

    one is generally as 'old' or as 'young' as one chooses to be, n'est-ce pas?

    I do believe I would love to walk around the world....something to start planning for!

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  6. Rian - It is funny how the aging thing works. Once, I thought 40 was old. Now, I keep moving the mark. Certainly, 60 isn't old! We will forge ahead to new heights!

    Kimy - Ha! My birthday is Nov. 7, and I can't wait. I love the idea of celebrating the entire year and think I'll make a list of things I want to do and places I want to go during the year. Where's my calendar? Maybe something special at LEAST once a month.

    Thanks for the idea! Celebrating the entire year will be wonderful.

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  7. I've fallen in love with Kimy's notion of celebrating birthdays ending with zero for a year! And I'm beginning the monthly celebration now.

    The older I get the more confident I become that age is irrelevant. The only thing that really matters is attitude.

    Party (planning) on!

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Good to hear from you!