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Five Decades on This Planet: Me Now Versus Me In My 20s

Julie US Writer
3 min readMay 1, 2024

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This day in history, my mom gave birth to me 50 years ago. I was born a few minutes before 6 a.m. Central Standard Time in Wisconsin, USA.

I can’t believe it. As of six hours ago, I have lived for half a century already. Where did all that time go?

I’m assuming that I’m not the only person who feels this way. It probably will take me the remaining years of my life to self-reflect.

In my self-reflection, I hope to inspire some people. First, I will tell you how my thoughts have changed since my 20s.

The number 50, two balloons side by side
Photo by Kendall Scott on Unsplash

Me In My 50s Versus Me in My 20s (Up to Age 49)

I never thought I would crack jokes about age. Now, it’s been 10 years into — at least — of me finding humor in “getting old.”

Not everything happening to me right now is funny, but true joy comes easier now than it did 25-plus years ago. Also, I still battle depression, but I’m less devastated over getting older than when I turned 40.

Life was never what it was cracked up to be for me. However, I find it easier at 50 to accept that everything happens for a reason — in my 20s, not so much!

In my 20s, I couldn’t accept that sometimes life happens. No matter what action I take, I cannot control every occurrence.

This doesn’t mean I can’t control my destiny. However, at age 50, I realized my life would have sailed much smoother if I had given up control sooner.

On this point, one of the best books I ever read in my life was “Who Moved My Cheese?”

I actually forgot about that book until I was almost finished writing this post. I still remember identifying with the examples in the “Cheese” book related to my life.

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Julie US Writer
Julie US Writer

Written by Julie US Writer

Julie's face has changed over the years, but her mission is still the same.

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