By this age, some of you may feel like they’ve achieved most objectives they’ve been pursuing. Others, to the contrary, may feel like they’re far away from whatever goals or lifestyle they were dreaming of having at 50. But what if reaching 50 was the perfect opportunity to start your new life?
Does life really start at 50? Generally, the fact of aging is not an attractive perspective. Some will not like the idea of getting wrinkles. But you have acquired experience, skills, and wisdom. This is the perfect moment to monitor more closely your state of health, private life, and your current job and to define your future objectives. Then it is up to you to start truly living the life you want at 50.
My life totally changed in my 50s. I found a new purpose in life and am now happier than before. That’s precisely why I’d love to inspire you to follow the same path.
Here are my thoughts on how you can start living the life you want at 50, too…
What Are the Benefits of Being 50?
By the age of 50, you generally have enough spare time that you can now spend doing whatever seems interesting to you. Your routine and the organization skills that you have acquired are all time-saving.
If you have been cautious with your finances, you should be in a comfortable position to choose your future activities. The experience you have acquired, either professional or private, is one of your biggest assets. At age 50, you also most probably have a good knowledge of your abilities and skills.
All of this is a perfect basis to start finally living the life you want at fifty.
Why Life is Not Over and Actually Begins at 50…
When my life hit a low at age 53 due to a severe burnout, I felt like life had not much left to offer at that age.
But boy was I wrong!
Back then, my daughter told me something that made me change perspective on my situation.
Life expectancy keeps increasing steadily. There are now more supercentenarians than ever before. And there are good chances that we will keep living longer and longer while staying in such good shape that we will still be able to fully enjoy life.
So, I started wondering… what if I was going to live up to a 100 or even 110 years, while still being mentally and physically fit? That would mean that I’d have another 50 FULL YEARS to live!
Now, take a bit of time to let this sink in. 50 years of life, but without the need to start from scratch again. Theoretically, you could go back to college and study to get at least 3 or 4 degrees over this time span. If becoming fluent in a language takes you about 3 years, you could speak over 15 more languages fluently.
At age 50, you could learn and do so many things. The only thing stopping you is your own mindset. If you believe that life is over at 50, then it surely will feel like it is…
You may still be doubting that you’ll be mentally and physically fit enough to do all this? Well, studies show that there are a lot of things you can do to slow down aging and increase longevity.
You have the power to keep your mind sharp and your body young for many years.
Keep reading to find which areas you can focus on to start living a conscious, happy life at 50.
How To Start Living a Happy Life at 50?
Improve your social and private life
Love life
With more time to spend, consider deepening your relationship or looking for a new one.
Show your partner that you are happy to share his or her life. Paying special attention to little things every day helps create a feeling of care and affection. Small proofs of love from time to time will deepen your relationship.
Perhaps you are no longer happy in your partnership or you are fed up with life as a single? Many people at fifty plus are looking for a new love. There are numerous possibilities to find a new partner, many of them online.
But beware of scammers who are inclined to look for the most vulnerable people. This happened to me a year ago. I am a reasonable person but I nevertheless stepped right into his trap. Happily, I discovered the scam early enough and kept the financial loss rather low. Two months after this painful experience, however, I found my new partner with whom I decided to share my life. This relationship fills me with happiness every day.
I fell in love again at 50, feeling like a teenager, and I would never have thought this was possible.
Finding love at 50 is possible for both women and men. But you have to be open to the idea, put in a little effort and believe that it can happen.
I also believe that a relationship works best between equals. So if you don’t feel worthy of love, or you don’t even love yourself, you’d better focus on building up a better relationship with yourself, first. Your partner should not be there to compensate for your own issues.
Family
I know, I know. Family should come first, right?
Of course! But at age 50, you do deserve to finally put yourself first, at times. That’s why I intentionally placed your love life first in the list…
At age 50, it may be time for you to have a closer look at your relationship with all of your relatives. It’s easy to spend a lifetime repeating the same patterns over and over. Have you lost hope that some people or relationships will never change?
If so, I’d recommend you start looking at your own behavior, too. Sometimes, others around us have the potential to change. But not if we keep putting them into a predefined “box” and can’t treat them differently.
Cherish your family and start putting in the effort for things to change for the better with your relatives if needed. You can change at age 50, and so can they!
Friends
What about your friends? This is the moment when you can invest more time to meet with them. Think about inviting them from time to time for dinner, either cooking for them or going to a restaurant. Perhaps you can share some activities, do your jogging or work-out together. Or you can try to find new hobbies that you can share.
Keeping and extending our social network is one of the most important things when we get older. Social life is often linked to our professional careers. But your professional activity may be ending at some point not so far in the future. This is the moment to look for new acquaintances that could start a friendship. There is a great chance of making friends when practicing sports or other activities.
Focus on doing things you love. It is much easier to build up strong connections with people who share your passion. Strong relationships build over time. So the chances are also higher that you will stick to your weekly meetings if you really love showing up and doing whatever it is that you love doing.
Improve Your Health
Perhaps you have always been very mindful of your health. In this case, just go on as usual without exaggeration. But most of the time we are inclined to leave small health issues unattended and hence they tend to aggravate over time.
I made this mistake by not taking care of my personal needs for years and this led to a severe depression. It took me some time and a huge effort to overcome this illness. Today I am very mindful of the warning signs my body and mind send me.
The best thing you can do is to check which things are doing you good in every respect.
Regular exercise
We all know that it is important to do some exercise regularly. If you are living close to a natural environment, then go for a stroll in the evening now and then. Otherwise there are lots of possibilities to do some work-out in a gym. There are many different courses you can subscribe to and this is a perfect occasion to make new acquaintances.
You will feel the benefit of regular exercise on your body and mind very quickly. And there is no need to overdo it. You can start slow and build up over time. In fact, this approach is probably healthier and will increase the chances that you make it a lasting habit.
Sports
After 50, it is not too late to find your favorite sport! If you never have practiced any particular sport, give it a try. It is only in doing something that you can discover it. Or perhaps you have given up a sport for lack of time or money and now is the moment to re-engage. Apart from the pleasure it provides, you will feel your body strengthen and become more mobile.
I’m also a strong believer that age is mostly an excuse. I’ve seen totally inactive people starting training from scratch, running marathons, and even participating in triathlons in their 50s. Others became really good at tango. Whatever your dream is, start now.
Of course, make sure you get a health check-up regularly and ask your doctor before engaging in your dream sport.
Yoga, Tai Chi, Qi Gong
A more gentle way of training your body and mind are practices such as yoga, tai chi, and qi gong.
Numerous studies have shown their benefits on health. They will help with mobility, stress-reduction, flexibility, better breathing practice (and that’s more important than you may think!), and, ultimately, increase your longevity and quality of life.
There is a large variety of yoga types, so you can try several out and see which yoga practice suits you bet. Yoga can be everything from slow, relaxing, to intense and demanding. But any type of yoga will do you good, as long as you have a teacher who is able to ensure that you are doing the postures safely and correctly, and you have checked in with a professional health advisor first.
Meditation
It’s not a secret anymore. Having a daily meditation practice leads to a plethora of benefits, such as:
- Stress reduction
- Better productivity and focus
- More creativity
Meditation is like exercising, but for your brain. And it is so rejuvenating that research was able to show how 50-year-olds can have the brains of 25-year-olds if they meditate. And that’s only just the tip of the iceberg, as research in this field is still in its beginnings.
Just like yoga, there are many techniques that you can use to meditate. Don’t get stuck on a meditation method that doesn’t suit you. If you feel like you are going nowhere after a few days of trying, just try something else. You can find more valuable advice on how to start a morning meditation practice here.
Focus on Wellbeing
Massage
Massage is a very pleasant way to care for your body and relax at the same time. I began massage treatment because of my back problems and found it very efficient. Even after my problems had almost vanished, I kept on my sessions. Massage will help you relax and sleep better when practiced regularly.
Nutrition
By the age of 50, most of us have become aware of the benefits of healthy nutrition. With more time to spend, why not try to develop your cooking skills? I like to try out new recipes from time to time and share a good meal with my friends and family. Your effort will be rewarded by spending a nice moment in good company. The important thing is to choose quality products. My favorites are vegetables, but anytime you use fresh products of good quality the result will not only be pleasant to your papilla but also to your physical well-being.
Body-care
After 50, keeping our body in good shape should be one of our priorities. A healthy body is the basis for many activities and a pleasant lifestyle. Apart from your regular physical activity, you should take special care of your appearance. There is no way of denying riddles that have formed or the change of your morphology. But there are many possibilities for improving your appearance and, therefore, your wellbeing.
Skin-care
Take care of your skin. Allow yourself enough sunlight to achieve a light tan but without exaggerating.
In addition to providing a healthier appearance, sunlight has more important positive effects as you may know. We store vitamin D above all with the help of sunlight and if we do not expose ourselves enough we can lack this important vitamin.
I experienced the consequences of this lack some time ago when I was so busy that I was rarely out. Insomnia, muscle spasms, poor concentration, and a generally deteriorating condition can be the result of massive underexposure.
However, you should find the right balance. Get enough exposure to allow your body to produce vitamin D, but not more! Depending on your skin type, there is only so much time you should spend in the sun. Make sure you get in the shade, dress up and use strong sunscreen to prevent accelerated aging and skin cancer in the long run. When in doubt, ask for professional advice to be sure you won’t put your health at risk (either through under or over-exposure to the sun).
Fashion
At 50, we are generally no longer fashionistas looking for the latest fashion hit. But it’s important to dress in a way that makes us feel well. There are many possibilities of finding your style but you should avoid some red flags.
Whether you are the “jeans and sweat” type or the more sophisticated one, the crucial thing is that you feel it fits you. You should probably ban mini-skirts and extra skinny jeans from your wardrobe, except if that really makes you feel good and you’re used to it.
What’s important is to understand that you do not need to prove that you are younger than your age. Age is not so much a question of physical appearance but of a person’s aura and charisma. If you are healthy and feel well, with a dynamic future in view, you will radiate this positive aura around you.
Travel
With more time and money to spend you should consider traveling more often. Whether you want to discover cultural sites or just relax on the beach, in your home country or abroad, there are numerous possibilities at your disposal.
If your budget doesn’t allow fancy vacations, there are enough money-saving ways to spend an excellent time discovering other places. Camping, flat sharing, and even all-inclusive tours can be an affordable alternatives.
How to Find Purpose in Life After 50?
New professional life
At fifty, you can still reflect on your professional career. Are you still happy with your present job? Perhaps you simply feel it no longer fits you? Take your time to investigate the possibilities to change careers. Depending on your professional choice, this will sometimes require a college degree. Therefore, you will need to do some financial planning. If you’re in a well-paid, secure job, there has to be quite a strong motivation to change. But you can also see it as a great basis to plan your second career successfully.
At 53, I changed my job after I’d worked 21 years in the same firm. My job had given me satisfaction for many years and allowed me to make a good living. But the conditions and atmosphere had changed for the worse and I no longer felt the motivation that had driven me for such a long time. Because of this and a few other reasons, I burned out, ending up in severe depression. This is what finally triggered my decision to free myself from prejudices of being too old to change and started a new professional life.
Maybe you feel that there are other interesting things you’d like to accomplish. Or perhaps it might be appropriate to prepare a second professional activity for when you will retire. Today more and more people take up some kind of professional activity after retiring, either because they still need to feel useful, or because they need some extra income.
If you ask me, 50 is the perfect age to start a new professional life.
Hobbies
Are there some special interests you’ve never had the time to pursue? This is the perfect moment for resuming an old hobby or finding a new one. Whether you are attracted by handicrafts, gardening, needlework, or cultural activities like music, reading, or arts, you are sure to find a pleasant pastime. You will enjoy making progress and getting results. Hobbies make stress and worries disappear by creating a balance with your professional life. In addition, cultural activities help you widen your horizons and change perspective on life.
Charity
If you are a socially active person, participating in charity should be a good option for you. As we all know, there are more and more people needing our help in many ways. This can be elderly people for whom we can do some shopping or simply spend some time chatting with them. Or you can be a mentor to young adults or tutor younger children. Helping others is always gratifying and makes you feel useful, fit, and younger.
Conclusion
50 is the perfect age to start living your life to the fullest. By that age, you probably know who you are and what your needs and passions are. Use this self-knowledge to focus on what’s best for you and reinvent yourself if necessary. Look at the different pillars of your life and work on improving them all one by one. Let me know if you’re making progress and what works for you!