Looking forward to fifty....

This month is spent setting myself up for fabulouse fifty, as I turn 50 at the end of the month.  I am looking forward to being fifty and to my 50s in general.  It will be a decade of delight.

I think extensivly about past decades.

My 20s were spent developing -- college, law school, career, weddding, house, and entertaining.  What I developed did not bloom, but busted.

During my 30s, things fell apart, and I rebuilt.  I sold a house, and bought a house.  I sold that house, and bought another.  My career was altered, as was everything else.  I got divorced, and got married again.  I got a dog.  My 30s ended with a dream come true -- I gave birth to my Son just over 1 month before my 40th birthday.

My life settled down some during my 40s.  I kept the same house, the same husband, and the same job.  I was busy growing my Son, and managing life as much as possible.  Quite often, my life happened when I was making oher plans.  Most significantly, my 40s ended with the death of my dog at the end of November; it happened when I was totally planning and doing so much else.

I am not sure how to sum up money and exercise during each decade.  For now, I will not try.  For each, I am not totally where I would like to be, but I try to focus on the positive aspects of both.  Each could be in worse shape.  Overall, I am healthy, both objectively and subjectively.  On that I will focus and rejoice.  I'm probably worse in some ways, but I choose to think that I am better in more ways....  

For sure, things will happend and change during my 50s, but I will be as prepared as possible.  I am strong.  I am determined.  I am just about ready....

Preparing for 50....

Planning, dreaming, and remaking are so much of what I do.  I try to do that while living each moment at the same time.  I want a balance between trees and forest - in every aspect of my being.

Presently, I think about what happens -- life, stuff, change, and drama.  I make mistakes, and I learn from them.

My 50th birthday is just over 3 months away.  It's an excuse to celebrate, and I will.  I am looking forward to this milestone.  It will be a decade filled with my five focus factors - fun, fitness, family, finance, and food.

Every decade is different.  My 20s were filled with education and early years of marriage.  My 30s were filled with change - the end of my starter marriage and the beginning of my lifetime marriage, as well as unlimited personal and professional developments.  My 40s have been filled with adapting to motherhood and a more uneventful existence.  The drama is different, less tumultuous overall.

My thoughts as to how I will celebrate are still in the development phase.  The newest "bee in my bonnet" is that my 50th birthday will begin an adventure that will last throughout my 50s.  When my 50s are complete, I would like to be able to say that I have seen all 50 states with my Son.  This goal has plenty of potential.  Already, my Son has calculated that he's been to 10 of he 50 states, or 20% of them, including all of the New England states.  He is a bit upset that he doesn't remember having vacationed in South Carolina.

This goal is consistent with our family's desire to learn and travel.  We love to discover new airports and hotels.  I often have difficulty deciding where to go.  That indecisiveness could be diminished if we randomly select a new state to visit.  The possibilities of pleasures are endless.

With luck, this adventure will form a foundation for my 50s.  I can make it happen....