Today is my birthday. I don’t tell you this lightly. As a matter of fact, last year I didn’t even mention it because last year I turned the big FIVE-O. I’m embarrassed to admit it now, but I was so devastated and in such denial over that silly number that I refused to acknowledge it in any public way. But now that I’ve had a year to let the reality settle in, I see I did myself a disservice by allowing such a significant life milestone pass by without paying some sort of homage to it.
So here I am, a year later, ready to do what I should have done last year…reflect on turning fifty (plus 1) by sharing some of what that considerable span of time has taught me.
I share this as a birthday present to myself today….but my hope is that each of you will find at least one nugget of truth that resonates with you and causes you to reflect as well.
51 Reflections On Turning 50 + 1
I’ll start with one of my very favorite quotes:
1. “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” ~~Eleanor Roosevelt
2. Time and experience heals pain. Even if you are going through an overwhelmingly painful event in your life right now….one day it will be part of your past and not nearly as significant as it seems.
3. Keep moving. We must keep putting one foot in front of the other even when we hurt. If we don’t, we will never know what is waiting for us just around the bend.
4. Be the first to say you’re sorry.
5. Kindness matters. A lot. Being kind is more important than being right. Wherever there is a human being, there’s an opportunity for kindness.
6. Mother was right….everything seems worse at night. Our isolation and insignificance seem so much greater when everyone else is asleep. Try to rest and take comfort in the approaching sunrise.
7. Find ways of doing service. It’s some of the most rewarding experiences you will ever have. You come to love those you serve.
8. For better, or for worse….means just that. Probably the five words most taken for granted in the English language.
9. Forgiving yourself is FAR harder than forgiving someone else. And, I believe, it’s never complete.
10. When the chips are down (I mean REALLY down)…family is who will come through.
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11. Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become.
12. Comparison is the thief of joy. Don’t compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
13. “Do what you feel in your heart to be right – for you’ll be criticized anyway. You’ll be damned if you do, and damned if you don’t.” ~~Eleanor Roosevelt
14. Stop worrying…and start living! 99% of what we worry about WON’T EVER HAPPEN!
15. Choose happiness. Walk cheerfully on the face of the earth.
16. Let go of resentment. Holding a grudge is letting someone live rent-free in your head. KICK THEM OUT!
17. You don’t need everyone to like you. If the people closest to you love you, the ones who don’t, don’t matter.
18. Addiction is no respecter of persons. It will seek to destroy anyone who gets caught in its web.
19. Life is all about expectations. Stop expecting impossible perfection, in yourself and others.
20. NO ONE gets through this life without some trial. Everyone is fighting a battle of some kind.
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21. Goal-setting is overrated. Problem solving is underrated.
22. Debt ruins lives. Try to avoid it all cost.
23. Never send an email when you’re mad. If you want to write an angry e-mail, do it. Just don’t send it.
24. You can’t change people. You either have to accept people for who they are or not at all. There is very little gray area here.
25. Learn to embrace Change, even when it arrives with its companions, Fear and Uncertainty.
26. Giving is better than getting. If you continually give, you will continually have.
27. Gratitude is the best way to find contentment. Personally I don’t think there is any way to find contentment without gratitude. It takes our focus off what we don’t have and onto what we do have.
28. Learn the art of empathy and practice it. Never underestimate the power of a smile, a kind word, or a listening ear.
29. On being a parent….stay out of the way of your kids becoming the amazing people they are. It’s more harmful to overparent than to underparent.
30. Everyone yearns for validation, love, security, enjoyment and a better future.
31. Live in the now. Don’t let yesterday use up today.
32. Live by example. Personal example carries much more weight than preaching.
33. You can’t buy happiness. Everything that is wonderful about life doesn’t cost a penny. A long walk, a hug, spending time with a good friend are all free.
34. You can’t please everyone! If you share something with enough people, you will upset someone, no matter what. That’s their problem, not yours.
35. Mistakes are how we learn. Failures are the stepping stones to success.
36. Wear sunscreen.
37. No matter how lonely you might feel, there is always someone who can relate to you. Perhaps you can’t talk to them right now, but they are out there.
38. Flowers and gardening are medicine for the soul.
39. Passionate love is overrated. Seek a mate whose values and background echo your own.
40. Relationships are messy because life is challenging. A conflict doesn’t mean the relationship has to come to an end.
41. No one is in charge of your happiness except you. Not your parents, not your spouse. You.
42. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will. Stay close.
43. However bad a situation is, you will get through it, one way or another.
44. Trust your gut instinct. It will be right 99% of the time.
45. Sometimes all you can do is B R E A T H E.
46. Failures are only lessons. So never regret anything that has happened in your life. Take it all as lessons learned and move on with grace.
47. The best is yet to come.
48. Experience is the greatest teacher of all.
49. This wise prayer….”God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
50. Find your passion. Discovering something you love to do has an amazing effect on your entire life.
51. I have a lot left to learn. Life still has many lessons left to teach me, and I’m looking forward to them all.
I want to thank each of you for being here to celebrate with me today….and every day! The community that this website represents truly is one of my proudest accomplishments, and one that wouldn’t exist without all of you incredible people!
Do you have a saying that resonates with you?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JILLEE!!!!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I can’t wait to see what’s ahead!
Happy birthday! This post is just what I needed today…thank you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.thank you for sharing! great words of wisdom and yes, turning 50 is a scary feeling. i think it made me feel for the first time like i was actually an adult. i’m 51 and realize that a lot of people might think my age is old, and sometimes i even feel that… though inside i feel like a kid sometimes… :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! Today is my birthday too! The big 5-0! Whoohoo!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happiest Born Day to you ~ I am passed the big 50 ~ couple years now. But I hope you have the best day ever. Be proud of honoring yourself today ,I will do the same~
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! I was diagnosed with celiac many years ago and at some point after that decided that I should be a dietitian. I went back to school and had a goal of being an RD before I turned 50. Well, 2 weeks before my birthday I passed the national boards and narrowly averted a midlife crisis! If I wouldn’t have passed that test on the first try it would have been a black birthday!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Oh duh…HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!
Betsy
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Hi Jillee,
I too had a difficult time with my 50th and am fast approaching my +1 (March 5th). We Pisces are kindred spirits and your list was inspiring and very helpful. I have found an inner peace (and some good menopause meds.-lol) this past year and look forward to all the “plus” years ahead. A huge help in my transformation was giving up the drink too (November 26th, 2012). It just didn’t help the situations. Best of luck to you, me, my husband and all of us taking each step one at a time, day by day. :)
Peace,
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Betsy
Happy Birthday!!!! I will turn “50” in May, and I am looking forward to reaching this milestone. I hope today brings you much joy and happiness. Thank you for all you do.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! You are only 2 days older than me, and SO much wiser! Loved this!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.You share a birthday with my precious (now) four year old. I love reading your blog. You should be proud of all you’ve accomplished. Happy birthday!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Wow Jillee! Smartie pants ;)…..I love all those 51 sayings. Happy 51 birthday years! Your blog is my fav! Enjoy your special day
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee! And thank you for your inspiring list. In your 51 years you have certainly gained much wisdom. Our experiences of life can grow us or defeat us… you have grown. May God richly bless you with His best! And please keep sharing your “one good thing”.. it is one of the great things that “makes my day!”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.I remember as a child I ask my dad what an antique was, his reply was something that stuck with me forever. He said that an antique was something that was 50 years old or more and that got more valuable as it aged, so on his 50th birthday I wrote on his card “To my most loved and valued antique – you just get more and more valuable as the years pass, here’s to another 50!”
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Jillee, you bring a lot of joy to many people and don’t know your true “value” – no matter what your age, you are a gem!! Happy Birthday and many many more :)
Wow, this is beautiful. I think this should be shared far and wide. –With credit, of course. Have a Happy Birthday! I really hope it’s the best ever! ~Kris
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday to you. I have just started following your blog… I just love it! I am going to be 51 this year and I want you to know that my motto is “It just keeps getting better and better!”. At 50 I have found a new freedom to live life fully and to speak my truth by finding my voice. I hope you will continue to embrace your 50s they have a lot to offer us… we are becoming wiser! ha! Happy Happy Birthday
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy 50 + 1 Birthday Jillee!!!! I’m a few years ahead of ya but yeah I get it. I’m still in denial, too. LOL
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee! I hope you have a wonderful day and may God always bless your soul. :)
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Miss Jill. I very much enjoy your blog and have gleened much from it. I read it everyday through e-mail. Thank you for sharing your hard work and your insites
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Karen
Happy Birthday!!!!!! Love all that you do!! I’ve learned so much from you!!! I will be 49 this spring. My kids are still young. (7 and 11). I am so blessed!!.. Because of my kids ages I am around a lot of younger moms. I know I could be a grandma at this age but I feel so blessed and so wise about things that younger moms are hung up about. I don’t take a day of being a mom for granted!! I know to savor every day!! Thank you for the list!! Great inspiration!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Never thought much of age being a milestone or even a factor in my life. The only time I even kept track of my age was when I was waiting to be old enough to drive. Sometimes not knowing how old I am is a little embarrassing– but I honestly do not keep track. I have to “do the math”. Like right now–born the end of Dec in 64 that means the end of 2014 I’ll be 50–so right now I am 48. Whew! I’m sure I’ll forget in a few days. The same thing happens when someone asks me how old my husband is.
Please log in or create a free account to comment.An elderly friend once told me– with old age–The Lord blesses you with poor eyesight so that you can no longer see what you can no longer bend over to clean.
To paraphrase George Burns; If you want to be old just grunt every time you stand, pretty soon you’ll be so old you’ll hardly be able to move.
Happy Birthday!
Don’t feel too bad about ignoring 50 – this year I will be celebrating the 19th anniversary of my 29th birthday! :-)
Happy Birthday!!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday! Just look how wise turning 50 has made you!
Please log in or create a free account to comment.Happy Birthday Jillee!!!
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