Sandwiched
Most of us in the sandwich generation are, shall we say, middle aged. Definitions of middle age (or middle adulthood) vary but most of the time it means a person is between 45 and 65 years old.
I used to cringe at this term. In fact, I wouldn’t let my husband say he was middle aged until he turned 50. Then I used the term to describe myself starting around age 47 and he was rather baffled. I just like to keep John on his toes.
But I’ve realized that this stage of life, even with its challenges, is pretty great.
I have a group of friends who get together once a month and travel together once a year. We’ve been friends for over 20 years now, with some of us having known each other even longer. I treasure this “Our Gang” group.
Since we couldn’t travel all together this year, we had a Zoom call last Saturday. One of the topics of our conversation was the general feeling of amazement that we’re all around 50 years of age now.
“I swear we were all just celebrating turning 30,” my friend Cindy commented.
Yes, time definitely flies when you’ve having fun, and I’ve certainly had loads of it with Our Gang. But I told everyone that I am actually embracing this stage of life, even though I’m battling menopause symptoms and juggling my family, work, and taking care of my mother.
Why? Because it gives you this wonderful sense of just not giving a hoot. I used a stronger word than “hoot” on the call, but this is a family newspaper.
Now, don’t get me wrong – I still care about what is happening in the world and about others. I’m passionate about many causes and work to help make a difference every day to bring joy to this planet.
But I no longer give a hoot about what people think of me. For example, in the past it would upset me tremendously when someone didn’t like my positive personality. One of my former bosses actually told me it got on her nerves. I even gave serious consideration to toning down my enthusiasm that day.
Thankfully I “woke up” and realized she was the one with the problem, not me. Now I won’t change who I am for anyone or anything.
Other smaller things that used to bother me are that I don’t like wearing nail polish, I prefer to wear my graying hair long vs. short, and I only wear minimal makeup. I used to fear that the world would judge me about all of these things. Now? Eh. I don’t give a hoot.
As long as I look put-together in most situations I feel a new confidence that I’ve only discovered in my 40s. Not feeling awful for two days out of every month has been a plus as well!
I hope if you’re middle aged like me that you are enjoying the positive things in this stage of life. It took me decades to finally be able to say that I like who I am. I hope you can say that as well.