50 is the new 20

I read a couple of great blogs recently. First Vicki writes about being 45 and whether she'll make the big ton. Got me thinking about age. Then I read this post from Ms Marmite about her teenage daughters self image issues. This got me thinking about the old adage that youth is wasted on the young. In just under 3 years, I'll be the big 50. I'd not given it a moments thought until I read these blogs, but the combination of the two made me think long and hard. Does it daunt me? Nope, not at all really. In many ways, I'm looking forward to it. I'm a relatively fit and healthy 47 year old. I can still kick a football around and I still play guitar in a great band. I still drink too much on occasion and I still know how to enjoy a party.

If truth be told, I'll be glad to wave goodbye to my 40's. Myself and my good lady have lost both our mums and her dad in this period. My mum had a stroke in 2000 and passed away in 2008. In that period there was probably not a day I didn't worry. I'm sure that is where any grey hairs came from. Clare's dad went senile and passed away a couple of months before. To cap it, at the start of the year her mum, a youthful and lovely lady of 75, developed lung cancer and died in a matter of months. Truly horrible. I suppose the only blessing is that we are free from the worries that this brought.

Our kids have been little, requiring much time and effort. As we approach our 50's they are older and more self sufficient. Eldest daughter is a very talented swimmer. If she keeps it up, maybe she'll be a contender at the next but one olympics. Middle daughter is a talented artist. I suspect that she'll be at art college. My boy is a great goalie. I'm looking forward to the time when he's big enough to join us for a kickabout. I'm sure he'll be a far better player than I've ever been. Yeah sure, it can all go wrong in a million ways, but I'm not a gloom and doom merchant, I'm an optimist. I look forward to the good outcomes, not the bad ones.

I've spent 30 years building my studio business up and I'm hoping that the next decade will be the one where I can really reap the rewards. In the last 10 years we've had some great artists emerge from our rehearsal rooms, most notably Amy Winehouse and Kate Nash. I look forward to the next Brit award winner emerging. It really gives me a buzz to see someone on telly and think "Yesterday they were in the studio". As for my own music, I believe that musically our band is better than it's ever been. I see no reason why we shouldn't get better still. Who knows, maybe we'll even have a hit. With more time on my hands to write and play, I certainly hope we can make some great music.

Some of us, with middle age have a mid life crisis. Maybe that will come, but I doubt it. I got all of my serious partying out of my system in my late teens & early twenties. I don't have a feeling of life having passed me by, so I'm very happy to have a great woman who I'm ecstatically happy with. Sure we bicker all the time, but we've stood together through thick and thin. We split for a while before children and realised we were better together. It will be great to have more time together to enjoy each others company. At the moment, eldest daughters swimming makes it hard to have a social life (getting up at 4.30 am is a great way to stay sober).

As to health, 3 years ago I was diagnosed with a potentially serious back problem, following a stress fracture. I responded by joining a gym and going every day. Since then, I'm probably fitter and healthier than I've ever been. Yesterday I rowed 10km in 41. 24 - not bad. Tonight I'll be playing 5 a side football. The oldest guy in our team is 60 and he's an example to us all.

So what do I intend doing in my 50's. Playing lots of music, watching lots of music ,keeping fit, playing a bit of football, enjoying some of the money I've worked so hard earning, spending more quality time with my good lady. I hope to still drink too much sometimes, still eat too much on occasion. I hope that I spend lots of time watching my kids swim, paint, act, play football. In short I'm hoping it will be a hoot. A hoot without all of that teenage angst and inexperience. You may ask, will I still be writing a blog. Dunno, I most certainly will if I still enjoy it.