|
Turning 50? Why Boomer
Women Should Feel Liberated & Not Despair Turning 50
by Doreen
Orion
Like many of us, until my forties,
I had gone through life feeling rather invincible. Not only was
it inconceivable that something bad could ever happen to me,
even my very mortality seemed suspect. Then, when I started feeling
creaks and aches in bones I hadn't thought about since anatomy
class in medical school, it made me reluctantly concede that
I actually was mortal - or even worse - getting older.
Yet, now, as I close in on fifty,
I've made an even more shocking discovery: I just don't care.
I'm learning that there is so much that is surprisingly, gloriously
and wondrously liberating about the half-century mark.
What's So Liberating About Turning 50
For example, what woman hasn't gone through life wishing she
could just lose five or even ten pounds? Nearing fifty, I just…
don't… care! I used to adhere to that universal female
delusional calculus that calories don't count when snatched from
a husband's plate. Now, it's "Yes! I WILL have fries with
that!"
Since I had gone low carb several years before, the pounds had
crept up again, largely because I now insist on having a glass
or two of wine with dinner. An informal and utterly unscientific,
but no less persuasive poll of my female contemporaries reveals
that, for some reason, nightly wine with dinner seems to be a
right of passage for middle-aged women unto itself. |
|
Perhaps in the case of baby boomer
women, the suddenly innate, undeniable thirst for a nightly nip
also serves a humane purpose that anesthetizes us against the
pain of getting older.
In any event, when I could no longer fit into my favorite pair
of jeans, I started thinking perhaps I should go back on a two
week induction period. I had thoughts of severely limiting my
carbs so I can achieve rapid weight loss. So, I reread the good
doctor Atkins' book to refamiliarize myself with the process.
"Is he insane?" I cried out loud in the bookstore.
"No alcoholic beverages? Not even wine? For two whole weeks?"
I decided to keep the poundage and toss the jeans. And, that
was the beginning of my liberation, for rather than despair,
I found myself rejoicing: I get to go shopping!
How My Newfound Freedom Progressed
Admirably.
Who needs to dress up and put on makeup, just for leaving the
house?
Not me.
No one looks at me anymore, anyway. Not that I ever used to be
a head turner, but just by virtue of youth, I got a few, secretly
cherished, second glances. Now, rather than feel badly I'm being
ignored, I love it! I go out without makeup, wearing ratty clothes
(which some might term, "pajamas") all the time. No
one notices. Who hasn't fantasized about what he or she could
do if rendered invisible?
Why I'm Excited to Turn 50 - And So Should You
I always thought I'd hate turning fifty, but now that it's looming,
I can't wait! What else will I discover that I don't care about?
Unfortunately, for my long suffering husband, understandably
horrified at this turn of events, men don't seem to enjoy the
same sense of liberation as they age. Perhaps it's because they
have far less to be liberated from. After all, society has always
placed so much more of a premium on women's looks.
Gentlemen, payback is a b----! |
