Benchmark Birthdays. How Do They Affect You?

 Benchmark, or milestone birthdays really affect me, and I guess I'm not alone.  I started noticing this at age 60.  My working career was over, I had moved to a new city, and most of all, I noticed differences in my health.  I couldn't walk as far, jump as high, etc.  It turns out that benchmark birthdays feel different because they act as a psychological milestone that triggers deep self-reflection , forcing a comparison between current achievements and life expectations.  Most of us make a mental accounting causing us to evaluate our life trajectory, mortality and passage of time.

Milestone birthdays act as checkpoints, causing people to look back at where they have been and where they want to go.  There is often intense pressure to have achieved specific milestones by certain ages, causing stress if reality doesn't match expectations.  

These birthday also remind us of the passage of time, which can trigger anxiety about aging and death.  

The 9-ender phenomenon indicates that people aged 29, 39, 49, etc. are more likely to experience a crisis or re-evaluate their life.

Why do so many people get the "birthday blues?" There are too many reasons to enumerate here, but suffice it to say that birthdays are often a time of reflection.

Two recent examples come to mind.  One woman was very sick with cancer on her 80th birthday.  It was a year and a half before treatment was ended and she was declared cancer free.  On her 81st birthday she announced that she was  healthy and cancer was in her past, and that the future would be filled with good health and great adventures.

Another woman turned 80 and used that milestone to evaluate what she had accomplished over the past 10 years, and what she wanted to achieve in the next decade.  She did some soul searching and decided to work less, enjoy more, and concentrate on good health and fitness. 

Although I just turned 81, not a benchmark birthday, I used the opportunity to evaluate my life.  What do I love about my life, what don't I like, and what do I want to do better?  As we age, we don't have to look at the calendar to know life is short.  As seniors, all birthdays remind us of the fact that life is short, especially milestone birthdays.