TGFKASE

BahtatBoy just got me thinking.....

When does middle age start?

Never thought about this before but, as I am a recent entry to the 40's, BBoy's mention of it has got me thinking "How long to go before I am officially middle aged?"

Can anyone tell me a definitive age?

Patsy Stoned

well lifespan used to be 3 score and ten so working on that premise you hit middle age at 35 .......... so you are well past it darling

TGFKASE

The important part of that sentence was "used to be" but, with a population living longer, surely the defining age of middle age has moved as well...

PS, PS. Since I give everything 100%, I shall take your "well past it" jibe as a compliment!!!!

MataHari

I'd be more worried about the fact that something Bathatboy said got you thinking...

kittycat1

I would say its around 40! Do you answer yes to any of the following questions? If so you are probably on the verge of a midlife crisis... Foundthis on some website and have added a few of my own...

Unhappiness with life and the lifestyle that may have provided them with happiness for many years.

are you contemplating having a hair transplant

Boredom with people and things that may have been of interest to them before.

Feeling a need for adventure and change.

Questioning the choices, they have made in their lives and the validity of decisions they made years before.

Are you eyeing up girls that are far too young for you?

Confusion about who they are and where they are going.

Anger at their spouse and blame for feeling tied down.

Unable to make decisions about where they want to go with their life.

Doubt that they ever loved their spouse and resentment over the marriage.

A desire for a new and passionate, intimate relationship

Do you have the urge to buy a motorbike?


xxx

Cham128

I just answered yes to all of those (except the hair transplant) and i'm only 30... looks like it's all down hill from here then

Patsy Stoned

errrrr...........NO!! BUT.... there is no such thing as a "Boy too young" for me.....well as long as they are over 21 darling

pproehann

We're are the self abuser generation who are supposed to die younger than parents so it may be earlier than 35 depending on what age you intend to die...

Bahtatboy

Ouch!

Ronnie Biggs

You're still famous in some pretty tough pubs in Slough, that's for sure.

Bonny Boy

Do you need to sit down to put your shoes on?

...and whenever you sit down, do you let out a sigh?

Bahtatboy

Always have, probably always will.
Which means I'll have spent and will spend virtually all my post-pubescent life in middle age. That's a nasty thought.

I think we have to look to more fundamental sources for the true answer, though:

All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players,
They have their exits and entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,
Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.
Then, the whining schoolboy with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school. And then the lover,
Sighing like furnace, with a woeful ballad
Made to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,
Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,
Jealous in honour, sudden, and quick in quarrel,
Seeking the bubble reputation
Even in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice
In fair round belly, with good capon lin'd,
With eyes severe, and beard of formal cut,
Full of wise saws, and modern instances,
And so he plays his part. The sixth age shifts
Into the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,
With spectacles on nose, and pouch on side,
His youthful hose well sav'd, a world too wide,
For his shrunk shank, and his big manly voice,
Turning again towards childish treble, pipes
And whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,
That ends this strange eventful history,
Is second childishness and mere oblivion,
Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.

Bahtatboy

Or in condensed form:

Seven ages: first puking and mewling,
Then very pissed off with your schooling,
Then romances and then fights,
Then judging chaps' rights,
Then sitting in slippers, then drooling.

Patsy Stoned

*slap

Victor Meldrew

To answer the original Q, I think it's a lot to do with how you 'feel' about yourself and about your life at the present moment.

I know people who left Uni at the same time as me (at the end of the 70's)and immediately took a 'middle aged' approcah to everything (the way they dressed, the way they talked, the things they did in their spare time). At the other end I have an Uncle who is in his 70's, works occasionally as a male stripper and also travels to/has a g/f in Thailand.

I see life as being like one big footy game. Where are you in the game? are you still warming up? are you well into the first half? are you kicking off after half time? are you getting into extra time (if you're lucky!). Are you winning the game? are you losing and by how much?

Not as simple as it might seem.