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Middle Age

by Ohio State University Extension    

Many people are learning to fully appreciate and enjoy their middle years as a time of expansion and renewal -- possibly the best years of their lives.

Census observers indicate that the bulk of the American population is moving into the period of life between youth and old age known as the middle years. The U.S. Census Bureau defines middle age from 45 to 64, yet some suggest that 30 is the onset-age, and others refer to 70 as the end of middle age. Realistically, the state of middle age can be better understood if we look for more imaginative ways of examining when it begins and ends than just the number of years. Instead, middle age appears to be a mysterious condition or state of mind.

A Psychological Period

What are known as the middle years now exist because of modern nutrition and preventive medicine. Middle age is more psychological than physical. Mid-life begins when a person does not feel like being young anymore. Eventually this feeling will come to all well-adjusted adults.

Unlike marriage or retirement, no "rite of passage" marks the start of mid-life. The first step is to help people recognize the onset of middle age and see the opportunities for learning and experiencing new and different things during this stage of life.

Although aging starts at birth, we do not really begin to notice it until middle age. It would be pleasant to maintain the vigor and appearance of youth. However, we would need to trade in the authority, autonomy, personal relationships, self-confidence, and achievement that come from experience acquired through the process of living. Paraphrasing Shakespeare's Cleopatra to Antony, "Middle age becomes a relief from the inevitable trials and errors of being young." Middle age, like youth, has its place. It is a time of insight that can only be acquired with age and experience.

A Time for Looking Ahead

Middle age brings a greater awareness of what is at the end of life. The greatest danger in our middle age self-examination is disappointment. If severe enough, this can lead to what is known as a "mid-life crisis." A crisis at this time of life often stems from a feeling that time is running out and that life has passed you by. How each of us faces and deals with mid-life is a personal decision. It is the time to recognize the splendor of maturity, of knowing who and what we are and where we stand.

Using Maturity to Your Advantage

Plan to approach mid-life with enthusiasm and satisfaction. Prepare to experience the exhilaration in using your powers of judgment, which can only be acquired through years of living and satisfaction with well-polished skills. Remember, the best things are those which can be acquired with age.

Prepared by

Marilynne R. Snook
OSU Extension Agent
Harrison County

Edited by

Cindy Bond-Zielinski
OSU Extension Agent
Family and Consumer Sciences

Middle Age-Quotable Quotes

"Middle age is when you've met so many people that every new person you meet reminds you of somebody else." -Ogden Nash

"Middle age is...

...a time to withdraw from energy-consuming activities.

...a time to focus on things in life which we feel sure are worthwhile.

...allowing time for contemplation and for feelings of satisfaction.

...learning from past experiences and taking stock for finding perspective.

...made up of the nation's decision-makers.

...setting the tone for life in this society.

...no longer 'driven', but in the driver's seat." -Richard Kerckhoff

"Middle-aged: Wiser than the young and stronger than the old." -Barbara Fried

"Youth is a silly, vapid state
Old age with fears and ills is rife
The simple boon I beg of FATE-
A thousand years of Middle Life!" -Poet, Carolyn Wells