Stages of Life

newborn         birth to 6 months
infancy             6 months to 18 months
toddler             18 months to 3 years
preschoolers         3 to 7 years old
tweens             8 to 12 years old
teens             13 to 19 years old
young adult         20 to 34 years old
early midlife         35 to 44 years old
midlife             45 to 55 years old
late midlife         56 to 64 years old
senior             65 to 79 years old
elderly             80 years and above

I wonder if I am really middle aged.  I will be 40 soon and that has me to thinking.  Am I young?  Am I middle aged?  Is half of my life really over?  Was it over at 30 or 35?  I am not sure how long I will live but I hope to make the best out of life.  I often reflect on a lot of things but rarely do I reflect on my age.  At 39, I have no kids and I wish to be more independent.  However, I would like to take the time to be grateful.  I graduated from college, I went to graduate school, and I have a great support system.  I am a sufferer of health problems due to age but I feel old even though my numbers say different.  Maybe I feel too old for my own good.  That is why I have created the above stages of life diagram.  It may not be exact, but at least I have many factors that play into this list other than concerns and anxieties about my years on this planet.  There are medical factors, life factors, and other factors that are common with every group more so than others.  For instance, 35-44 is a young adult, but the children are either home or away on college, the biological clock ticks, and one is still in the prime of life.  Does life really begin at 40?  I do wonder.