My mother always teases me that I am “middle aged”. I fight back and say “I am not,” and with that she responds “What, are you going to live ’til 100?” Well, maybe. Thinking of this exchange makes me wonder what is the definition of middle aged? What does society expect of the middle aged person? And, why do I not feel this way?

Middle aged is a group of people who are 45 to 65 years of age. By definition then, yes, I am “middle aged.” However, does that mean I have to curl up on the couch with my cup of chamomile tea and my knitting at night?

As I stated before, I am an instructor at Moraine Valley Community College. At some point in my 17 years there I became old enough to be my students’ mother. I knew it was going to happen, but when it did I was in shock. But let me tell you about Students of today… They don’t do anything. On Mondays I ask how the weekend was and if they did anything fun… Nope.. Nada.. nothing. It is pretty sad when I have a better weekend then them. As a middle aged woman I have more energy than these 20 year-old kids.

I recently read an article from the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Freedom f My 50s Is Amazing’: Women Share Stories of Midlife Reinvention. This was a response to an article written on May 9, 2019 in the same journal called ” The New Rules of Middle Age, Written By Women.” the response from women who are considered middle aged who have reinvented themselves was overwhelming. Women forging new paths in the middle of life.

This was very inspirational to me because I am not sure what I should be doing. Everyone says to “follow your passion,” however when you have to make money to support yourself and a teenager it is hard to just pick up, move to an island, live on a beach, eat coconuts and write the Great American Novel. So, I do things that are challenging.. well used to. I guess this middle aged stigma has gotten me down.

I have always been the person who will say Why Not? Instead of Why? I guess that is why I have completed 6 Spartan races and 2 times up the John Hancock stairs in Chicago. The one comment that really stung was a former friend of mine asked why I did these races and he claimed it was because I wanted to show off. I explained to him that I do these mud challenges because I still can.

I don’t remember my mother every being old to me. She was very active in my childhood activities, however, she is not the young that I feel. I swear at 48 I feel like 28. I hope this goes on forever. So, what is middle aged? How am I supposed to act? Can someone tell me that going down the slide at the playground is not allowed anymore? If it is… I don’t want to go on..

Gamerman, Ellen. “The New Rules of Middle Age, Written by Women.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 8 May 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/the-new-rules-of-middle-age-written-by-women-11557323488.

Gamerman, Ellen. “’The Freedom of My 50s Is Amazing’: Women Share Stories of Midlife Reinvention.” The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company, 17 July 2019, www.wsj.com/articles/the-freedom-of-my-50s-is-amazing-women-share-stories-of-midlife-reinvention-11563370767.