50 Would be Fabulous IF....

Clearly, I am not setting the blogosphere on fire, since this is my second post in about two months. I’m going to have to pick up the pace a bit, no? Anyhow, in the weeks since my inaugural post, I have been TALKING about the topic and THINKING about it, even though I haven’t been actually blogging.

One of the things that has surprised me is that my friends seem to be surprised that turning 50 bothers me. Apparently, they think I am much more evolved and self-actualized than I really am. That's what friends are for.

Anyway, it got me thinking about why I feel this way, and more importantly, what can I do improve my attitude? Of course, I need to identify what’s bugging me before I can fix it, so I’m going to attempt to answer my own survey question: 50 would be fabulous if…

50 would be fabulous if…

• I could get back in shape once and for all. I don’t have to have Madonna’s body, but I would like to have my 40-year-old body back. It wasn't perfect, but it worked really well, had a much flatter tummy and nicely cut arms.
• I had more energy and didn’t fall asleep at 8:30 every night. This would give me more time to do "me" stuff, and to have an actual conversation/make out with my super hot husband.
• I could wear all the size 8 clothes in my closet, and maybe even some of the 6’s. I’ve come to terms with saying good bye to the size 4’s, really, I have, but I’d love to be back in single digits.
• I made myself a higher priority. I'm in danger of turning into the selfless mom cliche. I used to hear moms in focus groups talk about how they never have time for themselves because their kids always come first. I would think, "that could never happen to me... " Well, guess what? (Side note: Don't get any ideas P&G brand managers -- this problem will NOT be solved with a time-saving Tide or Febreze flanker!)
• I did more "me" stuff. Like going to indie movies, reading more books and practicing yoga consistently
• If I drank less wine, especially during the week I think I need to watch it a bit -- I'm not at the Ironweed stage yet, but no sense in waiting until it's a problem.
• I spent more time with girlfriends. I used to joke that I didn't need a therapist because I had the "hut." (The hut is a group of women who are my besties...) We hutsters have been scattered to the four winds for a lot of years now, but there are telephones and a couple of us are within driving range. And maybe I need to cultivate a supplemental hut right here in the Nati.

So, these are the things I’m going to focus on in the upcoming months, and on March 6, 2011, I will evaluate my new 50 self against the above list and we'll see if I've turned the question mark into an exclamation point.

SURVEY MONKEY - QUOTE OF THE POST

“50 might be more fabulous if everyone wasn't spending so much time being horrified about its arrival.”


If you haven’t already, take a minute and tell me what you think about 50 by clicking here and completing a brief survey: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TSKG57H.

Fifty and Fabulous...Question Mark

It's all about the question mark. Is 50 fabulous? Is it? I think it's supposed to be. Just Google "50 and Fabulous" and see what you get. No question marks there, only annoying exclamation points. 50 and Fabulous! Do an image search and you'll find even more annoying evidence that we're all supposed to be tickled pink to turn 50 (see hideous embroidered pillow below). Young forever? Do they not understand basic math? 50 is old. I'm sorry, it is.

My own pillow would look something like this:

F- Freaked out (How can I be 50????)

I- Introspective (Now what am I supposed to do?)

F- Freaked out some more (50??????????????)

T- Tired (Of course I'm tired. I'm old.)

Y-Yelling (Hell no, I can't be 50.)

In case you hadn't figured out by now, this isn't going to be an Eat-Pray-Love-Under-a-Tuscan-Sun kind of "journey." I'm not even sure it's going to be a journey. It might simply be preparatory therapy in advance of a birthday that I am completely ambivalent about. Truthfully, I'm a little surprised about my level of ambivalence. I have never been one to mope about birthdays -- I sailed through my 30th with ease. I was even 40 and Fabulous! (Yes, exclamation point!)

But six months away from my 50th, I'm not feeling very fabulous. So, I figure I can either be bummed out and freaked out, or I can do something about it. I'm hoping that this blog will inspire me to figure out what that is.  And if you're in the same boat, maybe we can all do something about it together.

First step -- take my "How Fabulous is 50?" survey by clicking on this link:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TSKG57H

Next step: Figure out what is fabulous about 50 (there has to be something) and what would make it be more fabulous. Please, take the survey and give me some inspiration!