At what age did you realise you were "old"?

I think I was quite young. Certainly no older than mid 50s. I suddenly noticed my knees in the mirror and they were no longer shapely and youthful looking but had, sort-of... started to SAG!
How is that even possible??
Now of course everything is going south and it's not such a great look! - but now it's not such a shock either!

maytime2 - none of us know how much time we have left, whether we have life limiting/threatening illnesses or not Take each day as it comes. Hope your treatment goes well and you are back to your old, active self.
Hope everyone is enjoying this lovely weather ☀️

maytime2 - positive thinking 🙏

I'm still watching for the signs but not over diligently.

So sorry to read of your illness maytime2. Wishing you well with your treatment and I hope you’ll regain your strength and continue to enjoy life 💐

I feel at age 69 I’ve aged a fair bit in the past year mainly due to arthritis . I went a lovely country walk last week and stopped at my favourite little humpback bridge.

I did as I always did last summer and edged my way down the embankment to sit on a large rock next to the stream. After an hour I decided to get moving and that’s when it all went wrong. I couldn’t for the life of me negotiate the small but steep incline back up to the roadside. I was wobbling around and couldn’t put one foot in front of the other . I had to get down on all fours and crawl up. Thinking there was nobody for miles around I uttered a few expletives about myself on the way up.

I dragged myself to my feet at the top once I had a gate to grab. Then realised there was a walker standing on the bridge eating his sandwiches and he’d witnessed the entire spectacle. I was mortified 🙈

Wise words maytime2 I hope your treatment goes well 💐

\I am 78 and felt young for my age. I was fit and walked eveywhere until I coughed up some blood in March. I have been diagnosed,after many delays which should not have happened, with Stage 4 Small Cell lung cancer.
I've had my second treatment of Chemotherapy today. How long have I left ? Who knows. But I have enjoyed my life up until now and believe in "What will be will be"
Everyone needs to live their life to the full in the best way that they know how.

Since Covid I think I have been going down hill. I’m 76 and definitely feel a bit aged. I try to dress in bright clothes, no beige. I’m quite adept at putting the old slap on my face, but some mornings when I look in the mirror I think I could be my Gran. 🧓🏻

You're not old until you say you are! There are times when I might feel it a little bit (I'm nearly 82) but they're few and far between. I do everything except the garden (it's rather large) without help, and I still teach my tai chi classes. But really, it's just "lucky genes" and I wear them every day.

And it shows. I totally agree with his philosophy.

Clint Eastwood is 90 odd and still working. He said he 'doesn't let the old man in'.

One can get (and feel) older (and wiser?) without feeling definitively "old". Most of us do just that, I suspect.

FannyCornforth

My body was totally buggered aged 48.

But that doesn’t mean I feel old, quite the opposite

My body was totally buggered aged 48.

I still feel like I've always felt at nearly 74. No aches and pains, operations etc. I can still run for the bus if need be. I'm not being smug. I've had my fair share of rotten stuff and I realise there is probably something nasty waiting to pounce.

Despite a knee replacement and a few aches and pains I still feel relatively young at 63.But then my mum is 101 and was still catching buses to shop,cooking and doing all her cleaning well into her nineties.A lot of my relatives lived to be 90 +.However I have probably tempted fate now ! I think when I can't walk my dog or keep up with my garden then I will feel old.

Old? Me? Nope, not yet, never, as it's just a state of mind - so the 'old'/elderly/geriatric are forever (conveniently) about ten years older than me!

When I discovered that I really did need hearing aids. My family had been telling me for ages that I was turning up the televsion volume too high. DiL made an appointment and I was deaf in the right ear and slightly in the left ear. Now I don't need to turn up the volume - because I'm old!

When my knees started to pack up at age 68. I`m 80 now, and almost everything has packed up! Juliet27, never mind getting up, I wouldn`t be able to squat to start with, lol!

Me too. 70 this year and I feel it everyday. I feel now I should be more reserved in my clothes, make up and behaviour and it depresses me dreadfully. I cant think of anything to look forward too. I look just like my mother now which is a nightmare.

i am 59 and a few days ago i went out with my son and dil, or should i say they were taking me out, we went to a large shopping centre, i have been diagnosed with lymphedema so walking can be diffiicult, in the car he said don't worry i have hired a wheelchair for you, then he starts to talk about my 60th birthday next month, i don't celebrate birthdays and i am not into parties, he then said...you have to celebrate this one as you don't know how many more you might have....i started to feel about 80, i asked them if they had a wee tartan rug for my knees...lol

I’m not old. End of.

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

One thing I do know is that I still have all my marbles.

When I had my TIA, in the aftermath, I had to do a full set of Cognitive tests, that scored what you couldn't do or remember, not what you could and I scored a resounding set of 0s across all the tests.

Then this week I was invited to form part of the sample of people to take part in longitudinal tests of how/when and if the sample develop dementia. I was selected to be invited because I am one of the UK BioBank participants and last year took part in some other tests that included extensive cognitive tests and brain scans and these showed that my mind was still functioning at a high level with no signs of any decline.

My body may be beginning to fail, but at least my mind is in good order, at least for the present.