Jubilee!

Jubilee!

Life is not downhill after fifty! In fact, quite a number of authors have written books about how to make the after-fifty years healthy, productive—and fun:

-- Portfolio Life : The New Path to Work, Purpose, and Passion After 50

-- Fitness After 50

-- Second Careers : New Ways to Work After 50

-- Dr. Ruth's Sex After 50 : Revving Up the Romance, Passion & Excitement!

-- Writing After Fifty: How to Find-Enjoy-and Make Money from a New Career as a Writer After You Retire [What I'm doing, except the part about making money!]

I don't know if it is realistic or not, but I like to think of fifty or thereabouts as the halfway point, and apparently I am not alone in that. Other writers spell it out:

-- Encore : Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life

-- The Creative Age" Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life

-- Living Your Unlived Life: Coping with Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life

And my very favorite title:

-- I'm Not as Old As I Used to Be: Reclaiming Your life in the Second Half

Tomorrow is my birthday—somewhat beyond fifty years and well into the second half of life. (I plan to be a very old lady!) The year I would be turning fifty, I badly needed fresh hope for the years ahead. I was five years past a painful divorce, but still living in a world of hurt. As a stressed-out single mom, I was working full-time and attending classes for a graduate degree. I knew about the Old Testament laws that provided rest for the land every Sabbatical (seventh) year. After seven seven's, the fiftieth year was the Year of Jubilee. This was a time of great celebration when the land was returned to its original owners, slaves were freed, and debts were forgiven.

"It seems to me," I said to the Lord, "that this fiftieth year should be a year of jubilee for me. I don't expect my financial obligations to be erased, but would You please release me from this oppressive sense of guilt and worry, and restore the peace that is rightfully mine as one of Your children?"

And He did! At an unexpected moment some months later, a few simple words from His heart to mine just washed away the accumulation of rejection and fear and self-doubt. Circumstances did not change, but my outlook did. Life again held meaning and promise. The years since my Year of Jubilee have been far more rewarding than the years before. I'm not nearly as old as I used to be!

I share my experience sometimes, and tell women to relish the possibilities that lie ahead. Whichever side of fifty you are on, you can expect fifty-plus to be good. You can look ahead to that mark and plan for the second half of life to be full and rich, or you can look back to that mark and make up for some lost time if need be! "Fifty and better" is not just an advertising catch-phrase for magazines and banks and community activity centers. It's the truth, if you decide to have a Jubilee!

Marjorie