I remember when I turned 50, I was sure the end of the world was going to drop on me like a concrete ball. Needless to say, I was relieved when that didn’t happen.
My 50s turned out to be probably the best decade of my life. I did so much super cool stuff, grew as a person, faced a million fears, pushed limits, and finally figured out who I was and what I wanted to do.
I also left an abusive relationship, changed careers, bought a one-way ticket to Guatemala, and never looked back. My 50s were MY decade, and when I look back at that woman, I’m honestly pretty damn proud of her.
I wish I had felt the same way when I turned 60. I didn’t.
I was sad and depressed. I felt old, ugly, tired, and suddenly very aware that I wasn’t going to live forever. For the first time, getting older didn’t feel like something that would happen someday. It was happening to me.
Now I’m 63, and I’m realizing that life in your 60s is a strange mixture of things. Some days I feel incredibly grateful to be alive and healthy, while other days I’m scared about how much time I have left and whether I’ll accomplish everything I still want to accomplish.
This Is What life in your 60s feels like
I think about life and death more now than I ever. I think about my health, my future, and whether I have enough time left to do all the things I still want to do.
My mom got Alzheimer’s at 65, and I would be lying if I said that doesn’t scare me. I’m only a year away from the age she was when her life began to change, so when I forget something, my mind sometimes goes straight to the worst possible conclusion.
Is this normal? Is this just part of getting older, or is it something I should be concerned about?
I also wonder about love. Is it too late to meet the man of my dreams, or is there still someone out there who wants to love, laugh, cuddle, hold hands, and enjoy life with me?
I want affection and romance, and yes, I would still like to have a good sex life. Sometimes I wonder if those things are behind me now or whether I still have plenty of time to experience them again.
Then there are the less serious questions that still seem important. Am I still pretty? Will I ever stop coloring my hair? Is this muffin top ever going away?
Some days anxiety comes out of nowhere and hits me so quickly that I feel overwhelmed before I even understand what is happening. I wonder if this is simply part of getting older or whether I’m going to spend the rest of my life feeling this way.
There are a lot of questions that come with being in your 60s. I don’t have answers to all of them, and I suspect most of us don’t.
But There Is Also So Much Beauty in Your 60s
For all the things that scare me about getting older, there are also things I genuinely love about being 63. I care a whole lot less about what other people think of me than I did when I was younger, and that is incredibly freeing.
I don’t have much patience for BS anymore. I don’t want toxic people in my life, and I don’t feel obligated to keep people around simply because I’ve known them for years.
I know myself better now than I did at 30, 40, or even 50. I still have plenty to learn, but I’m much more comfortable admitting that I don’t have everything figured out.
There is also something wonderful about having already survived some of the things you once thought would destroy you. I’ve made mistakes, been hurt, started over, changed my life, and somehow kept going.
That gives you a different kind of confidence.
I’m also incredibly grateful for the life I have created for myself. Sometimes I wake up, look around, and honestly can’t believe that I’m living in Guatemala.
I took a chance on a completely different life.
I know how blessed I am.
I’m also grateful that I’m healthy and still able to do the things I want to do. My body has changed, and some things are certainly harder than they used to be, but I can walk, travel, work, create, cook, explore, and live independently.
At 63, I understand that being healthy is something to be grateful for. I don’t know what the future holds, but today I can get out of bed and live my life, and I never want to take that for granted.
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Getting Older Has Changed What Matters to Me
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in life in your 60s is that time becomes much more valuable. I don’t necessarily mean that I feel like I have to rush through every day, but I’m much more aware that I don’t want to waste my time on things that don’t matter.
I don’t want to spend hours worrying about what someone thinks of me. I don’t want to argue with people on the internet, maintain relationships that make me miserable, or pretend to be interested in things that no longer matter to me.
I want peace.
I want meaningful work. I want good people around me. I want laughter and adventure and animals and beautiful places.
And I have a really big goal, a really big mission, that I’m determined to see through.
You want to know what keeps me focused when I start getting lost in my own head?
Dogs.
Dogs Give Me Hope
Dogs remind me that I still have something important to do. Whenever I start worrying about aging, time, wrinkles, health, or all the other things I can’t control, I think about the dogs I want to help.
My dream is to create a safe place for street dogs where they have food, shelter, love, and people they can trust. I want them to have somewhere safe to live for the rest of their lives.
That dream gives me purpose.
Sometimes when I’m sad or overwhelmed, I go outside and pet a dog. It sounds simple, but it works because dogs have a way of pulling me right back into the present.
They don’t care how old I am or what I look like. They don’t care about wrinkles, gray hair, or whether I have accomplished everything on my list.
They just want to be loved and maybe that’s something we could all learn from them.
It’s Okay to Feel the Feels
I know that getting older isn’t the end of the world. I know I could still have many wonderful years ahead of me, and I know I still have plenty of things I want to accomplish.
But knowing something and feeling something are two completely different things.
Some days I feel hopeful and excited about my future. Other days I feel scared, sad, lonely, or overwhelmed, and I’ve learned that I don’t need to pretend those feelings aren’t there.
It’s okay to have a little pity party sometimes. It’s okay to look in the mirror and feel sad about the changes happening to your body and face, and it’s okay to admit that getting older can be scary.
What I don’t want to do is stay there.
I can feel the sadness without allowing it to take over my life. I can acknowledge that I’m scared without letting fear decide what I do next.
That has become an important part of life in your 60s for me. I’m learning that I can hold the difficult feelings and still be grateful for my life at the same time.
The Woman Looking Back in the Mirror
The woman looking back at me in the mirror isn’t 30, 40, or 50 anymore. She’s 63, and she has lived a whole lot of life.
She has wrinkles and a different body than she had 20 years ago. She has been through heartbreak, fear, mistakes, adventures, and things she never thought she would survive.
Maybe I don’t look 63, and maybe someone will tell me I look younger. That’s always nice to hear, but it doesn’t matter nearly as much to me as it once did.
I’m not fighting aging like it’s some kind of war. It’s a privelege, not a disease. No matter how old I look, I’m still 63 and I’m trying to be okay with that.
Watching my skin sag and my body age doesn’t fill me with joy and makes me miss my younger self. But this is part of aging. This is part of life and I’m happy to still be here to experience it.
I’m Grateful to Still Be Here
There are plenty of things about aging that scare me, but I never want those fears to make me forget how incredibly fortunate I am to still be here.
I’m 63 years old. I’m alive, I’m healthy, I live in a beautiful country, and I still have dreams that make me excited about the future.
I can wake up every morning and look outside at the mountains and the lake. I can work, create, travel, spend time with animals, and continue building the life I want.
I have so much to be grateful for.
I think that may be one of the biggest differences between being younger and being older. When you’re young, you often assume there will always be another tomorrow. When you get into your 60s, you start appreciating today a whole lot more.
That doesn’t mean I’m walking around terrified that every day might be my last. It simply means I notice the good things more.
A beautiful morning. A good meal. A conversation that makes me laugh. A dog that wants to be petted. A place I’ve never been before. The feeling of waking up healthy and knowing I get another day.
Those things matter to me now.
Don’t Be Afraid of Your 60s
If you’re approaching your 60s or you’re already here and feeling a little lost, I want you to know that you’re not alone. I think a lot of us have complicated feelings about getting older, but we don’t always talk about them because we’re supposed to be grateful and happy all the time.
You can be grateful to be alive and still be scared about getting older. You can love your life and still feel sad about the changes happening to your body, your relationships, and your future.
That’s human.
Life in your 60s is not one single thing. It can be exciting, frustrating, peaceful, scary, funny, lonely, beautiful, and completely unexpected, sometimes all in the same week.
But there is still so much life here.
There are places to go, people to meet, things to learn, dreams to chase, dogs to pet, and experiences you haven’t even imagined yet. You don’t suddenly become finished just because you turn 60.
I’m 63 now, and I honestly have no idea what the next decade of my life will look like. I still have fears, I still have bad days, and I still sometimes look in the mirror and wonder where the hell the years went.
But I’m also incredibly grateful.
I don’t know how much time I have left, and neither does anyone else. But I know I’m still here, and as long as I’m here, I’m going to keep living, keep dreaming, keep laughing, keep learning, and keep doing whatever the hell I can to make this life count.
xo iva xo
