50 Reasons to love being 50+

When I turned 50 I still considered myself a young guy. Having been a distance runner for about 14 years at that time, I was still in great shape, had all my hair, very little of which was gray, and felt that the last thing I needed was to be a card carrying member of AARP.

However, I joined AARP and started receiving their regular publications, many of which have some interesting information. In the September-October edition there is a good article about "50 reasons to love being 50+." My first thought when seeing this was "50 reasons? This I have to see."

Here are a few of AARP’s 50 reasons about how great it is to be 50+:

#14: Because if Keith Richards can make it into his 60s there is hope for all of us. Here are a few episodes from Keith’s life: 1965: Knocked out by electric shock on stage after whacking microphone with guitar. 1974: Falls asleep in mid-sentence during live TV interview. 1980: Declares in interview, "I’ve been drunk for 27 years." 2006: Falls out of coconut tree in Fiji. 2008: Gives key to his longevity: "I’m doomed to live." Go, Keith, go!

#46: Because you grew up in era before video games: When we were kids, we played outside. Our bodies were hard breathing, little rainbows of energy and earth. We had sword fights and threw mud balls and loved every moment. Today’s kids are micromanaged and remote controlled and pale from spending most of their time indoors with electronic games and computers. THEN: Climbing trees, stickball, summer camp. NOW: Allergy tests, Xbox, fat camp.

#20: Because you experienced The Beatles: 1964 was a great year. It was the year of the British Invasion with The Beatles leading the way. Gone was the previous boring pop music, The Beatles started a movement in music that exists through today. There have been great concerts since but those groups owe it all to the original Fab Four.

#40: Because high school reunions don’t suck as much: No more one-upmanship or jealousies like during previous reunions. You can now enjoy those fleeting moments with your youth, but, in case you still can’t handle it, there will probably be an old classmate there who became a psychiatrist and will be glad to give you his card.

There is no sense in crying over spilled milk if you are over 50. You lived through some great times. I have listed four of them. AARP lists 46 more on their website. (http://www.aarpmagazine.org/people/50_reasons_to_love_being_50.html) Here is my own number 51: We get to live in Arizona.