Funnily enough, judging by the number of hits an older blog post gets, many people search Google wanting to what being 58 is really like. My blog post told them and the link is in the footnote below. Now it’s my turn to be 62 and this is what it is like.
They say we significantly age every seven years. Well, 62 can’t be exactly divided by the number 7. Does being in my 63rd year count? Do I believe all that anyway? Nah. Surely we all ‘age’ and get older all the time?
That said, I feel as if I have aged a lot of the last year. Some of this may read as being a bit down beat and gloomy. I don’t really mean it to be like that as I’m hopeful and optimistic at heart, so please read to the end.
What is being 62 years old really like?
1. Arthritis in my foot has been diagnosed, although the symptoms have been there for a couple of years
2. The knock on effect is that I have had to give up running. I am still, even now, trying to come to terms with this. This arthritis has caused me to be less active and I have put on a bit of weight and I feel more creaky.
3. I often wake up in the middle of the night, before I’d only do this occasionally. Sometimes I have a pee. Sometimes I turn over and listen to the World Service on BBC Radio 4 and slowly drift off again. Sometimes I make a cup of decaf tea and go back to bed – this always sends me back to sleep quite quickly!
4. I am well and truly in the system at our local hospital and remember being told “….as you are in the over 60 age group”. During 2023 I was admitted twice, including once by ambulance but I do believe it was a false alarm. This has probably caused the next point to crop up….
5. My attitude to death has changed in 2023. It is something I have contemplated like never before but any more is too personal for a public blog post; I’m sure you’ll understand
6. My eyesight has worsened but my prescription is the same, strangely enough
7. My levels of happiness have never been higher along with general well being, contentment and appreciating the countless blessings like never before. I hope this point over-rides all of the less positive points above!
A little change of attitude
I am no longer in denial about getting older. I have, very reluctantly, come to accept it. Physically things have now got the better of me. Ten years ago I cycled a lot in preparation for the Coast to Coast cycle sportive – a 150 cycle ride in a day, taking in Hardknott Pass which is the hardest, longest and steepest hill I have ever cycled up. I couldn’t do that now. Neither could I now run a marathon in under 4 hours, or even my favourite 7.5 mile hilly run that I had done dozens of times before, without any fuss.
I look at my face and see wrinkles and a haggard looking face. In a way that makes me smile, someone might mistake me for a wise old man one day (not quite there yet)!
The realisation that I have a diminishing number of years left (but sure, I’d still like to make it well into my nineties) and this makes me realise how important each day is. It is so easy for days to drift by and achieve so little. This makes me feel I cannot rest and put my feet up too much. My feet? Well one foot perhaps, sometimes it hurts like hell.
All this leads me to the nearest I ever get to a New Year’s resolution. Please let me explain. Last year, 2023, I coasted in life a bit too much. The focus of the year was having a lot of work done in the house and the arrival of our Ukrainian guests.
So for the year ahead – 2024 – I intend to put a bit more of an effort into things. More zing and effort, more decisiveness, less procrastination and putting things off. What you get out often depends on what you put in, if you get my drift. Making the effort to strike up a conversation with a stranger on a train or a plane, go for that walk and never mind the rain.
Although my optimism has been battered a bit this last year, I think it is now back to normal. I feel hopeful but the context has changed a little, so maybe that’s my version of this ageing in 7 year steps? Does this make sense?
Related: So what is being 58 really like?
There are a number of articles around suggesting optimistic people live longer. Here’s a short article from The Guardian about this – click here
I know exactly what you are talking about and believe me I think you’ve described 65 for me too, although at least this year I have a bus pass to look forward to: to assist with all the adventures (some hope – we only get 3 buses a day in each direction, or perhaps that will up the challenge)!
Sounds like we are on a similar wavelength. Must admit, it did feel strange getting a senior railcard when I was 60, almost feeling a bit of a fraud. Mind you, with the cost of train tickets nowadays, I think I know who’s making the money!
I’m glad you’re starting 2024 on a positive note. And I agree, you only get out of things what you put in. In my experience, making an effort usually pays off.
I’m 60 and hoping to copy your joie de vivre!
Excellent Sally! Hope you do have a rewarding year.
I am very sympathetic to your views, but I wonder if it is a good thing to ask the question, what is it like to be age x? 62 is the new 42, after all! I am fortunate that at 69, almost, I don’t take tablets and I just have a few aches and pains. For me it is all about grabbing life in retirement and maximising opportunities both for my own pleasure and to help others. I cycle 60 miles a week with a group that includes several riders in their eighties. I aim to join them one day! Putting things off and procrastination, as you write, are for me the big enemies in retirement. So much of the battle is in the mind. Seize the day!
Excellent comment, Stephen, thank you. You’re doing very well at 69 and I’m sure many will want to know how you’ve done that!
Thanks. I don’t think 69 is old! In today’s Telegraph is an article about staying healthy in our maturity. Here is a bit of it,
2. Change your beliefs about what ageing means
“Psychological fitness is just as important as physical fitness,” says Gray. What you believe matters, he says. Specifically, what you believe about ageing. Studies show that the way we think about ageing can increase your lifespan by up to seven years. A study from the Yale School of Public Health, using data from the Ohio Longitudinal Study of Aging and Retirement, found that people who had positive ideas about their own ageing (who agreed with comments such as “I have as much pep as last year” and who disagreed that as you get older you get less useful) lived for an average of 22.6 years after they first participated in the study, while the people who felt less positively about ageing lived for just 15 years more on average.
Keep psychologically fit by challenging yourself, says Gray. Learn a language, become a volunteer or get yourself on to a committee. “Think about [the late] Queen Elizabeth II; she had challenging tasks to do all the time including talking to Prime Ministers she may not rate at all!”
Thanks Stephen, I appreciate this. I think we are on the same wavelength.
A while ago I read that optimists live longer. The article was based on some American research which found optimistic people tend to live a few years longer. Apparently our bright, hopeful outlook changes our behaviour and we look after ourselves better. Perhaps there’s more to it than that? Maybe.
I feel a blog post coming on about this….
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/conditions/ageing/7-rules-of-slowing-down-after-60/
This is the whole article – behind a pay wall I am afraid.
Thanks for this blog post.
I’d read somewhere that most runners give up running in their 60s. This has also been my view from seeing the fate of older runners in my running club. At 58, this is worrisome as my social life revolves around running.
Cycling is the sport to take up as we age! I cyle 30 miles at a time with a group with several people in their eighties in it. Electric bikes are so good nowadays that once the going gets tough they are an obvious thing to buy. Cyling is much better health wise than running, too!
You might be fortunate and not need to give up running anytime soon? From what I understand runners who give up tend to do so because of many years running taking its effect on the body. I was a runner for 16 or 17 years. Others might have longer running careers.
If you do need to quit running, why not become a coach so you can continue being involved and therefore support your social life too?
Also, as Stephen has already said, why not take up cycling?