After yesterday’s post, I’m feeling pretty sentimental about turning 50 right now. I don’t know how my 50’s are going to come even close to matching my 40’s in terms of growth and transformation. But I’m going to give it a try! And it all starts today, since as of now I am officially 50.

It seems very weird to think that I have been alive for half a century. Especially since I rarely even feel like an adult. And it’s crazy to look back at my childhood and think of all the things that didn’t exist when I was growing up, like:

1. VCR’s didn’t exist, let alone DVD, Blu-Ray or Digital streaming
2. Microwaves were not the norm until I was in high school
3. Cell phones did not exist, let alone smart phones. We didn’t even have cordless phones when I was a kid.
4. Personal computers were not a thing. The first time I used a computer in middle school.
5. We listened to vinyl, cassette tapes became popular when I was a kid. I didn’t own a CD until college.
6. Cable TV was not a thing when I was very young, but came into popularity while I was growing up.
7. When I was very young, we did not even have remotes, we had to walk to the TV to change the channel. But there weren’t that many of them.
8. And our TV was a giant box that weighed a ton.
9. And you could not DVR a TV show if you were going to miss it, once the VCR was invented you could record it though.
10. Audio books, eBooks? Nope it was physical books or nothing
11. We did our research for school papers with encyclopedias ( and microfiche)
12. Gaming systems were not a thing. I think Atari came out when I was in high school? Maybe middle school.
13. Digital watches and velcro were both also not around in my early childhood
14. The Internet was not available to the public
15. Cars required keys and hand cranking down the windows, and they didn’t all have seatbelts
16. Most convenience foods did not exist… you could get a TV dinner or a pot pie, but not the selection of things that exist today
17. Amazon did not exist. You had to go to the store to buy something, and the selection was pretty limited.
18. Food delivery consisted of just pizza unless you lived in a city… no Door Dash or Uber eats
19. For that matter, no Uber or car sharing
20. There was no such thing as social media!
21. Disney’s California Adventure theme park in California was a parking lot

I could keep going, but this will give the younger generation a shock as it is! But it’s kind of eye opening to see how far the world has progressed in my lifetime, just imagine what kinds of things will come to exist in the next 50 years. And it makes me optimistic about what is ahead for me in the next stage of my life.

I haven’t created a huge plan for the next year like I usually do, mainly because what I’m doing now is working so well for my life. The only area where I really feel I need to make some changes is in my reading… I want to get back to reading more frequently… but everything else feels good right now.

So hello 50! Let’s see what you have in store!