It was on the phone that it first hit me. I was speaking to a patient and had to ask her age for my assessment. She sighed “I’m 51” she said. I said “I’m 51 too!” “How’s 51 going for you?” she said. I laughed and the words came quickly.
I’m too old to be cute and too young to be wise!
So true! The word ‘middle’ in middle-age is so depressingly descriptive. Who wants to be in the middle of something? The middle of the line? Not fun. The middle of a book? It takes all your will power to not skip to the end. The middle of the family? Everyone worries about the middle kid! The middle of a conversation? Someone interrupts. Middle. What a word. Being too old to be cute, and too young to be wise, right in the middle.I think I know when I ceased to be cute. It had to do with seeing my wrinkles reflected in a car window or trying on bathing suits. But when will I turn wise? The unfairness of it hits me in the middle of my used-to-be-cute 51-year-old forehead.
And then I thought of something that I read the other day. It’s from Amy who writes a blog called The Messy Middle. She lives in Beijing and one of the sentences in her introduction is this “My name is Amy and I have been Redeemed from permanent muck and live with the tension of the Already and Not Yet.” She goes on to say that the messy middle is “where the pains, joys, boredoms, frustrations, interests, relationships, and God reside” Read more here!
And that’s it! The messy middle. The messy middle-age is where I can’t rely on cuteness and I certainly can’t rely on wisdom. I’ve seen much of the goodness of God but I’m not sure it will take me into old age. I need grace like I’ve never needed it. I need to know that there’s more to life than cuteness and need God’s infinite wisdom because I don’t have my own. Amy’s tag line? The Messy Middle: Where Truth and Grace Reside. What a great place to be!
So thank you Amy! I have no idea how old you are but your words are wise.
Bloggers Note: Head on over to Amy’s Blog: The Messy Middle. Check out Finding Yourself in A Foreign Land and other posts.
Marilyn R. Gardner 
I heard that 80 is the new retirement age. Therefore, middle age must now be 70. “As a man/woman thinketh, so is he/she.”
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OMG Marilyn I am 51 and you don’t look it at all! You look 36. Anyways what is this middle age… I am just starting out, a different starting out then the first, I think life is a series of starting outs, each age different.. each time we enter new territory, we make mistakes we learn we grow and then wham it is time to start out again.
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Oh I am soaking in this compliment!! Pictures lie! It’s so true about venturing into new territory. And hopefully less mistakes in the middle than I had in the beginning.
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Marilyn…. have you seen the tv show, The Middle?? Check it out on Hulu!
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Love that show Robynn! I was thinking of that while I was writing the post.
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Hi Marilyn, Amy is my friend and colleague in Beijing! So glad you found her blog.
I’m loving yours as well. Joann
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I am so delighted that you connected her to my blog and I then found hers! Love the idea of being redeemed from permanent muck but not quite there! So glad you have found me! Cliff will be taking a trip to China around Chinese New Year – so jealous! He will be in Shanghai. So thanks for reading and commenting.
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I love it when different worlds overlap! Thanks for the shout out today, Marilyn! Amy
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I’m 54 so technically “middle-aged.” What a hideous phrase! I think of middle-aged as dowdy, dull, burned-out. Not me! Not what I want to be(come)!
Cute is highly over-rated. Wisdom arrives in time. Kindness and intelligence matter at every decade. I don’t let people’s definitions limit me.
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Oh well said! And you are so right – hideous phrase. It is amazing how much power people’s and society’s definitions can have on us. Thanks for the reminder and thanks much for stopping by.
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Love and relate to “broadsideblog”s comment.
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broadsideblog I love your comment
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