Age doesn't matter, it's feeling happy in your own skin | Rick Jackson

A birthday notification has just popped up on my Facebook timeline. My best friend from my schooldays has just turned 49. How can this be? Time has crept up on me so fast.
George Clooney.

MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 27:  George Clooney attend the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2011 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear on September 27, 2010 in Milan, Italy.  (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)George Clooney.

MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 27:  George Clooney attend the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2011 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear on September 27, 2010 in Milan, Italy.  (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)
George Clooney. MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 27: George Clooney attend the Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2011 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week Womenswear on September 27, 2010 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images)

It seems like yesterday Chris was gelling his hair to look like the lads from Bros as we left school and started our first jobs.

It will be my turn in February.

I never discovered gel. I was a late developer. Because of this I still see myself as a 30-year-old!

Then again, he still plays ice hockey.

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I hear how 50 is the new 40 and to some extent, that’s true.

When I was 20 a 50 year old was old. They dressed old, would act old. Yes, they were old!

Not today though. It’s acceptable for a 50 something to be cool. In some cases, cooler than 20 and 30-somethings.

Think Noel Gallagher, Will Smith and George Clooney. Who am I trying to kid?

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I’d rather go to a quiet pub than a nightclub, and a museum seems more tempting than the cinema or theatre.

I’ve always been quite happy to buy clothes from M&S as designer labels just seem a waste of money to me.

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I think Trespass more than The North Face.

So there it is. Yes, age is just a number and it’s more about how you carry yourself, but what I’ve realised as I approach the half century mark is that I’ve never been cool!

I’ve never followed trends, I like to do my own thing.

I don’t want to stand out from the crowd, in fact, I want to merge and be comfortable!

This is not me getting old, this is me being me.

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I’m happier in my own skin and as I’ve got older it feels easier.

I still have my own hair and don’t need Grecian 2000 – so I’ll simply embrace the birthday and carry on.

Some people say that they age like a fine wine.

For me, in my 20s I was a Hooch, an Australian merlot in my 30s and now I’m a simple pint of IPA!

Perhaps by the time I hit 70 I’ll be classed as a Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

I somehow doubt it.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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