What is Middle Age?

This is a question that I have been thinking about lately.  In the book of Psalms (Psalm 90 verse 10) it is written: "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength..."  So I guess that means that middle ages is officially between 35 and 40 according to the Psalmist, right?  Both of my parent lived until they were 80 years old, so I guess that means that I was middle aged at 40, or does it really?

I'm asking this question, and frankly writing this blog altogether, because I am going to be turning 50 in about a month and a half.  Now, those of you who like to poke fun will tell me that I'm an old man (generally that would be those of you who are just a little older then me, and you know who you are).  Some of you will tell me that I'm still a kid and others still will relate to what I am writing.

So, coming back to my original question, what is Middle Age?  I think it's really a state of mind, and it's all in how you take care of yourself.  I'm in better shape now then I was 5 years ago, I can run further, I can lift more weights and when I play golf, I don't suck that much (okay, that last part was a lie, I still pretty much suck as much at golf as I did when I was 40, 30 or even 20 but that's not age related).  In many ways, I still feel like a kid, and there are many, many times when I certainly act like a kid, whether I have a couple of drinks too many on a Saturday afternoon, or I get upset and pout or do something equally childish.  I guess the key is that I "act young" whatever that means.

Popular culture will tell you that 40 is the new 30 and 50 is the new 40 whatever that means.  The facts are that I'm 49, soon to be 50, and when my parents were that age I thought they were old.  I don't think my children think the same about my wife and me, but you will have to ask them that.  My parents had a much different youth then I did however.  Both of my parents lived through the depression and my father was injured in World War II.  I, on the other hand, grew up in a nice middle class neighborhood in nice middle class Albany.  We weren't rich, but we didn't lack anything either.  So in that case, I guess I am younger at 50 then my parents were.

I guess there is no true answer to the question, and I guess the question is rather silly.  Middle Age is a state of mind, and it is one that I have no intention of being.  I plan on being young and acting young until the day I die.  That's not going to be easy, because I plan on being around for a long, long time to come, with my wife by my side, and both of us in good health and happiness.