50 sense

Besides the obvious physical changes, I'm different at 50.

There is no place I would rather be on any given day than at home. There were years of my life that I would aimlessly drive around just to have some place to go. Of course, gas wasn't $3.00 a gallon then.

I love to go to bed early and get up early. My best friend used to drive me crazy getting up early and rattling pans with no intention of using them, slamming cabinet doors , or blaring the TV in order to awaken anyone in the house that would take the bait. Now sometimes I even beat her getting up. Not that it matters since we live across the state from each other.

If I had to give up television or the internet , it would hands down be the TV that I released. I have no home phone for the first time in my adult life and I absolutely love the freedom that entails. I suppose that over the last ten years I have slowly developed into a recluse. I never was big on visiting. However, the internet has kept me connected with people from my past that I would never have seen or talked to again. I am grateful for those ongoing connections even though it is only occasionally in 3D.

Life is much simpler at 50. I have enough experience to realize I will survive the heartbreaks. That makes me attack life with much less fear. I still have moments of being concerned with what people think, but those moments are less frequent.

And finally........I no longer own a dress and will never again wear one (unless in costume). With that said, I expect the next fifty years to be the better half of my life.