Myd Lyfe Crysis ?

[1972coronet]

As ridiculous and pedantic as this is going to come across ---- I'm going through a , shall we say , "A-Typical" Midlife Crisis . Why the 'A-Typical' embellishment ? Simply put , I'm not going-through-the-paces of the *typical* midlife crisis ; no red convertible ; no scamming on birds that're half my age ; no facial hair ; no Old Guys Rule livery . Instead , I'm biding my time with the realisation that I'm on-the-cusp of half-century marque , and have nothing to show for it .

I would like to read about how you , my fellow plastic fanatics , have dealt with or are dealing with your aging process .

 

"Just as everything's going fine
Lose my grip and slide ;
Bounce the rock and catch the ball
Bound to fall .
Fall stumble or toe the line ;
See my face and hide ,
Catch the tears I've cried .
From reality it seems I've strayed ; 
Tired of all the silly games I play"

- Bound To Fall , Michael Brewer and Tom Mastin .

 

"There's nothing left alive
But a pair of glassy eyes ;
Raise my feelings one more time"

- Gimme Danger , Iggy & The Stooges  

I also listen to lots of different music whose lyrical content is that of aging and lamenting  ; these two come to mind right-off :

"Goin' Back" Byrds , 1968 ( mono cut -- my favourite mix ) 

 

"See Saw" , Pink Floyd , 1967 ( in newly-remastered and re-released mono )  :

 

 

[Snake45]

I'm dealing with mine by building lots of car models, especially the same ones I built in my teens. Sometimes the VERY same ones. 

[SfanGoch]

Deal with what? I turned 59 in February and I actually feel the same as I did when I was 49, 39, 29, 19. Age is, for the most part, a state of mind. If you feel old, you'll be old. I'm also still in pretty good physical shape and I do check out hot young chicks at every opportunity. Plus, being that I'm a natural-born schmoozer, I can flirt up a storm with them. I wear my hair super long, with a 18 inch ponytail (I haven't cut my hair since my son graduated 8th grade three years ago) and have a goatee which I've had since 1991. I'm a rock n' roller who still loves Punk, Hardcore, garage and other headbanging music. I plan on hanging around for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time, too.

[Khils]

10 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

Deal with what?

I'm going to agree with Joe!   I turn 60 in December. ...wish I had longer hair, got the goatee...just lacking color!

 Don't believe I could have said it any better.   You are dealt one hand in life....play it!

[SfanGoch]

 

I don't ever want to act like the old farts from my yoot. They were grumpy SOB's when they were in their early forties, as if they forgot what it was like to be younger.

[imarriedawitch]

"How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?"

Satchel Paige

[Lizard Racing]

Even at age 50, just look at all the men from history you have outlived.

You can console yourself by saying: "Kids today don't know ..." and fill in the blank.  These are exciting times.

Just build lots of models.

[1972coronet]

Oh , I still enjoy listening to the same stuff that I have since high school ; anything from good old dirty Rock & Roll ( Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers L.A.M.F. is my fave ) , to Soul , Northern Soul , R&B , Psychedelic , Garage , Punk , etc. , etc. ----- except now my body won't let me grow my hair long ( I've had a "bumper crop on top" for 18 years --- keep it short or look like a freak ! ) . 

I suppose that a few events in my life (nothing exclusive) have made me think about how fast time goes . One of my beloved kitties is turning 17 next month (had her since she was 6 months) and she's exhibiting signs of dementia or some such , which breaks my heart .

I've long had Solipsistic tendencies and an Existential Nihilist outlook ---- I suppose that that's par for the course with my Celtic bloodlines ( haha ) .

[NYLIBUD]

I just turned 50 this past year,and I'm not going to lie,it sucks.Im 50 years old....OMG!!!!! Trust me your not the only one who didn't set the world on fire.But whatever,I'll keep kicking until the lord puts me where he wants me..Jeez,I sound like a priest or something

Edited April 19, 2019 by NYLIBUD

[bismarck]

More aches and pains, knowing it's going to rain before the weather guy does because every joint in my body hurts from years of hard work. But just sitting back and thinking back through all those years. Reagan was still in office when I joined the Army. Bob said it best." 20 years. Where'd they go. 20 years, I don't know. I sit and I wonder sometimes where they've gone".  Truer words were never spoken in my case, except that it's more like 30 years..I don't think I can afford a midlife crisis cuz I'm too busy buying all the new release models . 

[Lunajammer]

14 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

...I actually feel the same as I did when I was 49, 39, 29, 19. Age is, for the most part, a state of mind. If you feel old, you'll be old.

Gonna have to go with this one.

I've been in a mid life crisis in one form or another since I was 30. For the most part I still feel bulletproof, just don't have the spring in my achilles like before. Sage advice from my 72 year old brother, "If you haven't done something you want to do by the time you're in your 50's, you're probably not going to do it." So consider what you want, dig deep and do it so you'll never wonder.

[Jim N]

I have heard others say that growing old is not for the faint of heart and that is very true. 

I learned a lesson from an aunt and uncle of my wife's.  They scrimped and saved all of their working lives and claimed they would be quite the travelers after retirement.  Once they retired, their health started to fail and there was no traveling.  The only thing they really accomplished by scrimping and saving all of those years was that their kids will have a great inheritance. 

If there are things you want to do, and can do so without bending the budget too badly, then its time to do them.

[Ace-Garageguy]

16 hours ago, SfanGoch said:

Deal with what? I turned 59 in February and I actually feel the same as I did when I was 49, 39, 29, 19. Age is, for the most part, a state of mind. If you feel old, you'll be old. I'm also still in pretty good physical shape... (and) I plan on hanging around for a loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time, too.

Though my specifics are different, my attitude is pretty much the same. 

Think old = act old = be old.  

 

[randyc]

Didn't think of it as a mid life crisis, but joined a band as drummer with similarly aged guys.   Made the attached art into my bass drum head.   When that band quit, I took the nbame off and left the S/S decal in the middle.  Flamed the shells.  Kept playing with my blues band project, which leads to...

The kid on guitar in other photo was my 10 yr old son (at the time).   Started taking him to jam sessions when he was 7, so he had been playing for a while when we did this.  All the locals knew his name and always called me "Kelsey's Dad".   The boy is in his first year at UNC School of the Arts and has been playing piano for real money since he was 15.   His classmates always got a kick out of his stories from playing in bars during the 7 - 15 years.

I'm "retired" now... from that part of my life anyway.  Too much work to load in and out as the drummer.  If ever again, I'll just be the singer.  LOL

 

[HomerS]

In the six months after turning 25, I had to get glasses (the names and numbers on the back of the jerseys of the hockey team were getting smaller and blurry), had the wisdom teeth cut out (three impacted) and had my knee scoped (torn meniscus play tennis)....30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 have been a walk in the park!  

[MrObsessive]

3 hours ago, Jim N said:

If there are things you want to do, and can do so without bending the budget too badly, then its time to do them.

Yup! Time waits for no one and there's that saying that come to mind "The best laid plans of mice and men".

Something like that!

[MrObsessive]

One thing about time.........you know time is definitely marching on when people you went to school with, you're now reading their obituary in the news. I just ran across someone's obit I went to school with and I hadn't seen in over 40 years and he had died the other day.

No mention of what happened, but 58 is still pretty young considering.  

[SfanGoch]

58 in today's world is different than it was 40, 50, 60 years ago. People are healthier, eat better(that's subjective ). Look at old photos of people in their late teens, 20s, and so on. They looked old before they actually were old. They also acted old. I can't criticize those from the Greatest Generation, though. They had their hands full saving the world, which does take a toll on one.

[NYLIBUD]

24 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

58 in today's world is different than it was 40, 50, 60 years ago. People are healthier, eat better(that's subjective ). Look at old photos of people in their late teens, 20s, and so on. They looked old before they actually were old. They also acted old. I can't criticize those from the Greatest Generation, though. They had their hands full saving the world, which does take a toll on one.

Yea this is true.I agree with you.And have you ever noticed that no one ever smiles in some old pics.They just stand there with blank faces on.

[SfanGoch]

When you think about it, there wasn't much to smile about. They couldn't watch The Honeymooners, Sid Caesar and Uncle Miltie until the late '40s - early '50s.

[MrObsessive]

2 minutes ago, SfanGoch said:

When you think about it, there wasn't much to smile about. They couldn't watch The Honeymooners, Sid Caesar and Uncle Miltie until the late '40s - early '50s.

[disabled modeler]

For me my mid life crisis seems to be when I got in my very bad car accident.(wish was not my fault they had no insurance)...everything changed for me and had to make many other changes due to it.  Being disabled with many issues like 24/7 pain..etc.....loosing our house...and my business...the depression...no money....huge medical bills....having to sell off my 1 to 1 toys I loved...not being able to work anymore...etc.     I  immersed myself in my life long love of building and restoring models and promos of the 60s and 70s body styles...there my escape from everything now.    If it were not for being able to keep busy building..etc. id go crazy with it all.     

[Mark]

If you are thinking about doing something, and you can do it, and are well enough to do it, and can afford to do it, DO IT.  If you wait another year, you'll be a year older, and still not have done it, and may not be in a position (health, financial, other) to do it.

I'll turn 60 later this year.  Right now, I weigh less, and am in better shape than I was when I graduated high school in 1977.  I've got friends younger than I who are having health issues.  That made, and makes, me think about how fortunate I have been, and that I should be more grateful for that and not squander the opportunity to stay in good shape.  

About a year ago, I was told that the position I have held for 14 years was being phased out.  After a few delays, that becomes reality next month.  My employer has been good to me, so I have wanted to finish things up there before moving on.  Right now it looks like that will happen.  I've only been looking for the next job for about three weeks.  I've had one interview already, got another one on Tuesday, am waiting on another one, and sign up with two more agencies on Thursday.  For the weekend, it's off to NNL East.  On Monday, I'll get the details about separation from my current position.  The first couple of weeks I was down about it, but now I'm actually looking forward to this.  I'd have been perfectly happy to stay where I was until I retired.  But that isn't happening, and I can't change that.  But I can jump into something else with both feet, and that's what I'm going to do.  

There are things that you can't control, but there are others that you can.  Grab the bull by the horns and take control of the stuff you can influence, and some of the rest will fall into line.  

[tbill]

I’ll turn 50 late this year, not sure if I’ve been thru the crisis yet or not, cause I have the convertible, lol. I act like I’m 12 half the time, and  some days physically I feel like I’m 70, but generally, I don’t give age much thought. I think the biggest change I’ve made in the last few years is making more time to do things I enjoy. I’m an auto tech by trade, and used to always do side work for extra cash, after awhile I thought, why am I always working? Sure, I got to buy cool stuff, but never had time to use it, because when I had ‘off time’ all I wanted to do was nothing and rest. 

[OldTrucker]

50 came and went so fast I didn't really notice it.

I felt older at 21 than I do now but then I thought I wasn't going to make it much past that age due to where I was and the circumstances it was under and it almost proved true!

My days of labor were cut short at the young age of 42 when I busted my back and left me unable to work any more and we lost all we had built up over the years.. So I turned my focus to other things, mainly my grand kids!