What do you personally consider as old

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  • sweetpeanutsweetpeanut Posts: 4,805
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    I'll be 28 in a few months time, 2 years away from 30 makes me feel bloody old. :(

    Its true that life is what you make it. I'm 56 and enjoying every moment. I love my life. I am so bloody happy to be alive, many dont make it even to your age. Enjoy what you have, every day that you have it. :)
  • RebelScumRebelScum Posts: 16,008
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    Well, off the top of my head, I started work on Thursday 8th August 1952. I went in the army 16th August 1955, and left 16 July 1958, so I guess that it is OK for dates anyway. :)

    And of the top of your head, how many times have told us you're 77, London marathon etc... (Do you type it all out every time or do you have it saved somewhere and copy and paste). :D. Don't take it the wrong way, I do think it's fantastic, and as soon as I saw the thread title I knew you'd be making your usual contribution. :p
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    RebelScum wrote: »
    Depends on the person, their background and environment. I wouldn't consider someone who is 70 to be old if they were active, positive and open minded. I would consider someone in their 50s old if they lead an unhealthy lifestyle and were generally ignorant and closed minded.

    If I was generalising, I'd say 80+
    sweh wrote: »
    I agree that your view of old depends on your age.

    80+ is old.

    Snaaaap. Above's right.

    Yep, I'd say 80s too. Maybe a decade ago I might have considered 70s as getting on but I know far too many people in their 70s that put me to shame. Always on the go. Days filled with hobbies, activities, working away on motors, the house and garden. Spritlier than me.

    When I was much younger I might have considered 60s as old but now my parents are that age I realise it's not. I don't see my folks as old. Not sure I ever will though. That will be hard to accept.
    Ella Nut wrote: »
    Who was doing that? An eight year old? I refuse to believe any adult with a reasonable level of intelligence would class someone in the thirties as old.

    80s is old.

    My friend and I (both 30s) were talking about this and we were horrified to realise that we are older than what our mums were when we considered them old, when we were children, of course.

    Some of my colleagues (late teens, early 20s) consider me old. Well, a 'grown up' compared to them. They had me lumped in the 'grown ups' category in work...until they saw me on a night out. :blush::D Then they realised I was a 'uman too, not a passed it codger to be pitied. Admittedly, they are a silly bunch.
  • DianaFireDianaFire Posts: 12,711
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    My ancient godmother is in her nineties, gets her hair done every Monday and wanders off to the local Waitrose with her shopping trolley. A bit deaf, totally compos mentis and very fussy about skirt lengths. Similarly, I worked with a chap who was in his early 70s, lived in sheltered accommodation but declared he couldn't afford to retire, so came into central London four days a week from Essex. He was also on the lookout for a lady friend.

    Officially old, yes. But more life in them than most people that age.

    As long as you're mobile enough to get your own shopping in, you're alright.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    Its true that life is what you make it. I'm 56 and enjoying every moment. I love my life. I am so bloody happy to be alive many dont make it even to your age. Enjoy what you have, every day that you have it. :)

    You are very right :) I have a lot to be very grateful for. It's just when I was 16 I thought my late 20s self would have acheived a lot more than I have.


    I know that I have many many great things ahead of me though. I'll probably read this post back in 12 years and smh :D
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    That is good news, three years to go before I am officially old. :D

    At 77, I feel happier and healthier than I have ever been in my life. I was in the gym by 7.45 this morning, as I am four days a week. I completed by first London Marathon last year, and I hope that it won't be my last.

    I know that it is an old cliché, but it is true, age is a state of mind, that is of course if you are lucky enough like me to enjoy good health.

    See, it's people like you that made me re think. People in their 70s are not 'old'. You have just been alive longer.

    I admire anyone who can run a marathon, or even a half. I'm 36 and have made several attempts at the couch to 5k but I am rubbish. Absolutely dreadful. Can't get past week 2 and can't run the length of myself. When did you start running?
  • Pumping IronPumping Iron Posts: 29,891
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    State pension age.
  • thefairydandythefairydandy Posts: 3,235
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    30ish to 45ish, and then 65+

    I say 30-45ish, because parents of 0-12 years olds are some of the oldest acting people I know - not surprising given the responsibility and general exhaustion!

    Then people tend to loosen up once their kids are older or have flown the nest. I go for 65 becuase I know 'old' is more of a concept than anything, but funnily enough I know more mentally old people who are also physically old.

    Not that it bothers me - I'm going to embrace oldness (hopefully). Obsessively young at heart old people wind me up. My mum does it, she's positively ashamed of her age.

    To quote Blackadder, 'I want to be young and wild, and then I want to be middle-aged and rich, and then I want to be old and annoy people by pretending that I’m deaf.'.
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    State pension age.

    I'm not even sure what that is anymore.
  • Wee TinkersWee Tinkers Posts: 12,782
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    To quote Blackadder, 'I want to be young and wild, and then I want to be middle-aged and rich, and then I want to be old and annoy people by pretending that I’m deaf.'.

    :D brilliant. Love that.

    I agree with your age brackets too. Friends who are hitting their 40s and their kids are up are reliving their youth, just living to get out at the weekend. I'm not there yet. I'm one of those dull marrieds who doesn't want to go out, preferring trips to the zoo, country parks and picnics, talks far, far too much about their children and sometimes feels old before their time.

    But it's grand. I just consider it a well earned break for the old liver before it inevitably recommences with wanton abandon and shamelessness. Right now I'm happy embracing my dullardliness.
  • Blondie XBlondie X Posts: 28,662
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    :D brilliant. Love that.

    I agree with your age brackets too. Friends who are hitting their 40s and their kids are up are reliving their youth, just living to get out at the weekend. I'm not there yet. I'm one of those dull marrieds who doesn't want to go out, preferring trips to the zoo, country parks and picnics, talks far, far too much about their children and sometimes feels old before their time.

    But it's grand. I just consider it a well earned break for the old liver before it inevitably recommences with wanton abandon and shamelessness. Right now I'm happy embracing my dullardliness.

    I'm in my 40's and go to a lot of all dayers and weekenders and it's great fun to be out and partying and leaving parent duties behind for a few days.

    Caister weekends in particular would be an eye opener for some as we are some of the youngest ones there. They started in 1979 and a lot of the regulars have been attending since the beginning
  • Safi74Safi74 Posts: 5,580
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    Currently I feel 100!!!! 😞

    I thought 40 was geriatric, as my brother was 21 and I was 16 when mum and dad were 40! Now I'm here I'm hoping it's not so old as I still don't feel I've got my life started yet!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 0
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    65.

    My parents are in their fifties and my mum still comes across as fairly youthful, my dad not so much lol
  • Walter NeffWalter Neff Posts: 9,148
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    RebelScum wrote: »
    And of the top of your head, how many times have told us you're 77, London marathon etc... (Do you type it all out every time or do you have it saved somewhere and copy and paste). :D. Don't take it the wrong way, I do think it's fantastic, and as soon as I saw the thread title I knew you'd be making your usual contribution. :p

    Well, there maybe some in here who have never seen it. ;-)

    Did I also tell you that I have been voted the fittest pensioner in Faversham? :D

    If you Google it you can see three different threads on it. :p
  • Walter NeffWalter Neff Posts: 9,148
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    See, it's people like you that made me re think. People in their 70s are not 'old'. You have just been alive longer.

    I admire anyone who can run a marathon, or even a half. I'm 36 and have made several attempts at the couch to 5k but I am rubbish. Absolutely dreadful. Can't get past week 2 and can't run the length of myself. When did you start running?

    I joined the gym the week that I retired in 2001, and started running on the treadmill not long after that, and I realised that I thoroughly enjoyed it. I took part in my local 10K in 2007, and have done it every year since.

    When I was training for the London Marathon last year I was running at least 40 miles a week, and getting to the gym every day for four months before the run.

    I never expected at my age to have collected twelve medals and also two trophies for being the oldest runner out of 700.
  • Mark39LondonMark39London Posts: 3,977
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    Old is just a word, it depends on so many other things like physical and mental ability, lust for life etc.

    If I was forced to put an arbitrary age on it, I'd go for over 80.
  • thefairydandythefairydandy Posts: 3,235
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    :D brilliant. Love that.

    I agree with your age brackets too. Friends who are hitting their 40s and their kids are up are reliving their youth, just living to get out at the weekend. I'm not there yet. I'm one of those dull marrieds who doesn't want to go out, preferring trips to the zoo, country parks and picnics, talks far, far too much about their children and sometimes feels old before their time.

    But it's grand. I just consider it a well earned break for the old liver before it inevitably recommences with wanton abandon and shamelessness. Right now I'm happy embracing my dullardliness.

    Yes, it's one of the things I look forward to most about becoming a parent in a few years time :D I know a few childless people and couples, but they're all either under 30 or over 50, so I can't really speak for what they're typically like.

    I went to loads of 50th birthdays last year that put some 25ths to shame.
  • JJ75JJ75 Posts: 1,954
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    That is good news, three years to go before I am officially old. :D

    At 77, I feel happier and healthier than I have ever been in my life. I was in the gym by 7.45 this morning, as I am four days a week. I completed by first London Marathon last year, and I hope that it won't be my last.

    I know that it is an old cliché, but it is true, age is a state of mind, that is of course if you are lucky enough like me to enjoy good health.

    Brilliant!! Well done you. I totally agree, its a state of mind.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 1,990
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    I would say that 40 is middled aged and over 70 is old.
  • Directioner_HazDirectioner_Haz Posts: 462
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    Aged 16 and after all these GCSE's I feel extremely old
  • Apple22over7Apple22over7 Posts: 698
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    I thnk “old” is more of an attitude, or mentality, rather than a physical you-have-lived-for-x-years thing.

    My paternal grandfather was “old” in his mid-60s – suffering from Alzheimers, placed in a care home at age 66, died aged 71, It was awful, and I don’t remember a time when he wasn’t old.

    My maternal grandfather however, was pretty spritely and full-of-life up until Alzheimers (again) caught up with him along with stomach cancer and other medical conditions. He was 76 when he suddenly seemed “old”, and died not long after.

    My maternal grandmother seemed to go backwards! When she was having to care for my granddad through his illnesses, she seemed old and tired. Since his passing a few years ago, she’s gained a new lease of life and looks & acts a lot younger than her 75 years would suggest.
  • Jaycee DoveJaycee Dove Posts: 18,762
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    For those who reckon over 60 or state pension age is old - I would have said that, too, in my 20s and 30s and maybe 40s.

    So beware - a few caveats.

    Time goes really fast. I am 62 and being 22 does not seem remotely like 40 years - so it will flash by for all of you, too. When you will feel a bit peeved if youngsters are writing you off as old. :)

    Plus I think with modern medicine and lifestyles age really has been pushed into a corner where it is hiding out of sight waiting to pounce if you let it. If you do not then it is not exactly beaten but certainly in retreat more than ever in human history.

    I recall my grandparents at 62 and my parents at 62 and can see how this casting off of the ageing process happened in the past 50 years.

    Equally, inside, I feel every bit the same as I did in my 20s. There is no commensurate mental ageing process unless you sadly have an illness that creates it. If you are lucky then you feel the same age inside all of your adult life - never young, middle aged or old.

    I find that the key - just be the age you feel and never accept you ARE old according to others unless or until physical factors prove that acceptance inevitable.

    Stay in this permanent youthful mental age and live accordingly. It seems to work.
  • hunter23hunter23 Posts: 3,097
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    Aged 16 and after all these GCSE's I feel extremely old

    yeah 16 is getting on a bit. 21 is the big one though, that's when you're really old.
  • UKMikeyUKMikey Posts: 28,728
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    I felt older at thirty than I did at forty.
  • Blondie XBlondie X Posts: 28,662
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    UKMikey wrote: »
    I felt older at thirty than I did at forty.

    Me too. I do think by the time you get to 40, you're so much more comfortable in your own skin and you've stopped giving a sh*t about other peoples opinions of you so you feel freer
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