Rebuilding Rob

As WordPress continues to recycle old prompts, I pulled another prompt from The Coffee Monsterz Co to respond to today

Do you feel younger than, older than, or right around your age?

I don’t know that I’ve ever “felt my age“. If anything, I’ve always felt younger than what my actual age is. I turn 51 exactly two weeks from today, and I must admit that I really don’t even know what that means.

My dad and my mom were 51, at one point. Old people turn 51, on their way to getting even older. I still think of the 80s has just been 20 years ago; when in fact, Back to the Future turns 40 this year. One of the most frightening things I’ve read lately was a mem that said ‘If Back to the Future was made today, Marty would be traveling back to meet his parents…in 1995. But I digress…

Maybe that’s the secret. I mean, I know they’re growing older means among other things, the accumulation of more memories. But I think when you get older, you think that everything was better in the past. We tend to look at the past through nostalgic lenses.

But do I “feel my age“? I do feel my body slowing down a little bit. I know that when I go to the gym now, I have to work harder for less results than I did 10 years ago. I feel like I have a lot less patience than I had 10 years ago. The biggest thing I think I see in my life right now is peace, whereas 10 or 20 years ago I was looking for excitement.

The truth is, I don’t know if any of us genuinely “feel our age”. I don’t view myself as an authority figure—although I know people look to me as one. I don’t think any of us really feel any wiser as we get older. It’s like one day, we wake up and just realize that we know stuff.

But for the first time in my life, I am starting to feel my age – at least physically. I’m becoming more aware of my own mortality with every passing day. I caught my reflection on my car window earlier today and saw a tuft of gray hair on my head that i hadn’t noticed before

As I’m writing this on Tuesday, I woke up this morning to hear that Val Kilmer passed away. I bring up Kilmer‘s death because he was a “movie star“ of the 80s and the early 90s. We’re reaching a point in time where we are starting to say goodbye to celebrities of that era. Again, just one more reminder that I’m not getting any younger.

Thanks for stopping by Rebuilding Rob. Be sure to like, 👍 comment and subscribe to my blog below. It’s greatly appreciated! Also, feel free to follow me on social media as well! Check out my most recent posts as well as some earlier, related posts

• Acknowledge Me: The Simple Art of Being Seen
• Rob’s Retro Movie Review: This is Spinal Tap (1984) – The Movie That Scaled to Eleven
• A Death in the Family (And My Disposable Income): My Life in Comics
• The Supporting Cast: Navigating the Eras of Male Friendship
• Life is What Happens: A Look Back at My Non-Existent 2025 Vision

The article “The Fountain of Middle Age” first appeared on Rebuilding Rob.