What age do you think you are?

I feel very old - whatever that is- but my mum always said I was an old soul.
I now have Fibromyalgia which makes me feel 90 at times.
Since my DHs health has deteriorated rapidly I'm seeing the realities of ageing bodies and am pretty scared.
And, yes, I know there are plenty of healthy active 'oldies' who's are numerically older than us.

I shall be 77 tomorrow so I am quite old now but don't feel it. I think my DC want me to move into a ghetto of old people's flats or bungalows.

I bumped into some old friends today at an art market who knew DH and think me adventurous with my plans to build a house. They said DH would approve.

I keep being busy and living my life. When I look in the mirror I see I really do look my age, otherwise I try not to dwell on it.

petra

Allira

petra

Allira

Listening to some music DGD was playing today I said "oh, that's Kate Bush!" DGD looked surprised that I knew who she was 😁
I think Kate Bush songs have had a resurgence lately.

That’s because they all watched Stranger Things. 😊

Ah yes!!
Of course 😁

Running up that hill!

Got it in one 👏👏

Although DGD wasn't playing that song, can't remember which one it was (it was very quiet) so obviously she has become a Kate Bush fan!!!

What should 80 feel like? I am wrinkly and my face and hands look like e very day of 80. But I'm what used to be called spry, i.e agile and can walk and cycle pretty well. I struggle sometimes to find a word or name I know, but I finished the cryptic crossword in the i newspaper today.
I know I'm old and now that it's just me on my own, I don't value my life overmuch.

When I’m sitting down I feel much younger than my 73 years. But when I get up and start moving around my legs hurt so much that I feel ninety ( and definitely walk like someone much older than 73 ).

I'm nearly 88 and bewildered that I've lived this long. Mentally I'm about 38 but really no wiser than I was then.
Physically, if it wasn't for my chronic back condition I'd be pretty good for my age.

I turned 70 a few weeks ago and have to keep reminding myself. I don’t know what a 70 year old is supposed to feel like but I keep smiling to myself. I was widowed at 27 with two young children but lived to fight another day. I’m strong and much much wiser the older I get. Glad to be alive and feeling thankful.

We have 3 ages, in our head, in our passport and in the mirror!

Nannylovesshopping

I’m 75 and I think well, I can’t have much longer, it makes me feel sad

That’s exactly it, Nannylovesshopping. I had my 80th birthday yesterday. Until then, I wasn’t too bad. I’m told I look at least ten years younger than I am. My skin is good and I like to dress smartly, which helps.
I don’t mind being 80 as such. It’s just a number, but the problem is, like Nanny said, I can’t have much time left, compounded by the fact I have a slow-growing tumour.
I am quite active. The tumour doesn’t really affect me yet, but it will. Whatever I do, and where-ever I go, at the back of my mind is the fact that I can’t possibly do it for much longer, so it takes the pleasure out of what I am doing. It means that I am never truly happy. I have been a widow for five years after a very happy marriage of 57 years. I have wonderful children, grandchildren and a new great grandson, and the thought of leaving them makes me feel really sad. (I am not depressed, just not content.)
I don’t know what the answer is, or if there is one. I am wasting what’s left of my life and I need to find a way to be happy again. I don’t think that’s an option though as I can’t make more years. I think many of us feel like this, so if anyone has any suggestions as to how to stop thinking like this, please post them. Thank you 🌺

I do not feel any age, and never have. My sense of self is entirely seperate from my chronological age.

I’ve been more aware of my age (76) and the fact that everything can change in the blink of an eye since my husband died in 2022. He’d seemed so fit and well, I’d never expected to outlive him because I have various health issues related to auto immune conditions .

I know I’m less physically strong than I was a few years ago, my dogs and garden remind me daily. Some of this links to grief but here I am, finding something good in e dry day. I cherish the times I feel joy or happiness, I value contentment. Getting older is a gift I value

I'm 76 and feel like me. I've felt like me all through my life, tbh I like the 76 yr old me a bit more than I did the 36 yr old me. Experience of life has rubbed off some of my sharp edges and as I've aged, I've had more time and money to expand my interests, make more friends and travel more. I have no idea what other 76 yr olds feel like, if I'm typical or not. I may have a little dance round the kitchen when I hear music I like but I've always done that, that's just me being me!

What I am so pleased about, weirdly, is that lots of people nowadays, up to the age of about 80 or so, dont dress "old".

I see photos and rememebr women[not counting men at all in this], who looked "old" at 55. Literally.
No idea why that was.
Even wedding day photos made some brides look old. In my opinion.

Granatlast007

Nannylovesshopping me too. I've outlived my parent's life span and lots of people seem to dye in their 70s, talk about value every day, I certainly do!
To answer the post, I'm pretty fit and active and in my head, I'm 55.

You can never ever tell imo. I spent years in this (very heavy duty indeed) heart attack family thinking "My parents will go in their 50's from this - oh well". Followed by "I'll go in my 50's from this - oh well".

But "modern medicine" had come along and my father would have gone in his 50's - but went at 93 (and I'm not convinced he didn't give matters a helping hand in that respect) and my mother at 93 (and she probably did give a helping hand). Both of them had had way more than Enough I do know - though it was 2020 as well - which would have been seen as a final straw by both of them.

Though both my parents might very well have died in the Lockerbie plane crash in the 1980s - as they were having one of their weekend breaks there for some reason - but my mother informed my father the day before that they were cutting the weekend short and leaving Lockerbie.

I have latterly been anticipating early 80's - but I've acquired a noticeable list of "health problems to deal with" since 2020 and very p*ssed-off with having to research and work my way through getting rid of them (and meanwhile they're interfering with my life) and very very p*ssed-off indeed with how Society has changed so much for the worse from 2020 onwards (it was getting a lot worse anyway - but the speed of that change has shot up since then). I feel like I'm doing my final bit of "revising for exams - subject = life on Earth" to fully analyse what's what and don't feel I need much longer for that personally. So I'd be okay with going in my 70's personally - as long as there's no pain/discomfort/etc attached to doing so.

My mother died at 93 and she still didn’t feel grown-up.

As the youngest of four she was always the baby. She thought she’d feel grown-up-up when she married, became a mother… a grandmother… when her parents died… when all her siblings had died… yet she still never felt she got there!

I’m coming up to 69 I have got white hair very different from how it was. My physical health gets me down however I still feel young at heart so that keeps me going.

I'm 76 in real life. Inside I'm full of beans but outside I've got physical problems which are very frustrating and hold me back. But hey ho I'm still breathing and I love having my granddaughter and fiance staying with us - it's great fun

Kate1949

I'm 76 too and I can't figure out what happened!

Me too !!!
"How on earth did this happen " is my most frequent thought about my age , which is 72.
On days when I literally can't cope with it, I fully believe myself to be 42.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

From the neck up I still have all of my marbles. I am 81 but feel 181 from the neck down and act it most of the time.

I'm almost 68,where have the years gone?..when my 17 yr old granddaughter says can't wait to be 18 I said I was 18 yesterday...the years go so fast..I'm quite lucky health wise, fairly fit although getting up from doing the cat litter requires a lot of huffing and puffing..I've always walked too

I’m 21……….again and again and again!!!!!!
Truthfully, I’m in my early 70’s but I do feel that I have a younger outlook on life than my mother and both grandmothers did at this age.

Turned 80 this year feel 50 most of the time I keep up to date with clothes without being silly (I don’t mean crop tops and tattoos) 🤣🤣
Keep very busy so I m still pretty agile can touch my toes with straight legs and walk well I m pretty strong and lug around heavy thing on the allotment Swim in the sea not out my depth or long distances though Work 20 hours a week
But like nannygoesshopping I am aware time is very very limited now and that makes me feel very sad I d like to go on and on but only if I m fit and well and not chronically mentally or physically ill
I m still young at heart as I m sure most of us on here are

I think it's a universal thing. I remember my mother in her 70s telling me inside her head she is still in her 20s. I'll be 69 very soon.

I very rarely think about age (although it's forced upon us as we get older with pensions and things) and often can't quite remember how old I actually am - I'm often a year out one way or the other but it's true that my body doesn't aways wat to do what my head thinks I can even though I'm fit and healthy.

I'm 76 and this year I'm more aware that time is going to run out and I will have to leave my family. It's a sad thought and I'm trying to come to terms with it. I cannot believe I'm this age - already. Time seems to be flying by.

Yet inside I do feel like I did in my late 30's [the same then as now with it's ups and downs]. I'm quite well, fit and no real problems so nothing is really making me feel old [a sleep disorder is a problem though]. So I feel really lucky...so far.

I try to be philosophical, accept and adapt, and be grateful. That's ok on the good days, not so much on the bad ones. On the whole pretty content.

Does anyone else compare their age with what achievements they have (or havent) made?

I know I spent decades waiting for and trying to work towards having a (finished) detached house in reasonable area and generally being financially straight - and THEN I'd be able to fully get on with Life Proper is how I saw it. It took until 70 years old though to have that and it feels a bit late (a lot late) to think "Right - now I can Get On With Things fully" - but I'm 70 now".

It's sorta "How can I rewind my body back to, say, 40 or at the latest 50 (ie when that was due imo) and then I can have years of starting in properly on things from that Fully Together position?"

What age was everyone else when you thought "Got the basics fully together - now I can start in on things properly"? or are you still waiting to get to that position? or have given up hope of ever getting to that position?