Am I just morbid?

   So as I said in my bio, I think you should consider yourself middle aged at 25. A little web research on this shows that the U.S. Census considers middle aged to be between 35 to 50, and dictionaries often say between 40 and 65, but I think that's way too optimistic.
   The life expectancy is 73 for people born in 1980, (which I think is the awesomest year because since the year 2000, you can always figure out my age by adding the first two digits of the year to the second two: 2011 is 20+11=31 -- how cool is that?).
   They say life expectancy has been going up, so that children born now should live to 78, on average, but I'm not buying it. How many people do you know with cancer, or who have died from cancer? And these aren't just people in their 70s or 80s, there are children dying from cancer and brain tumors, people in their 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s... does anybody make it over 75 these days? How can that still be the average? I just don't believe it. Or rather, I'm not counting on it. As I've said before, I won't be surprised if I get cancer, it almost seems a given for my generation; the surprise will be in which body part turned against me.
   But on to lighter thoughts, I don't know why people have such a negative association with being middle aged. It's as if there is only "youth" and "old age," and middle aged must be under "old age" because it certainly isn't under "youth." That's why I'm promoting people to embrace a defined midlife stage. I know, it's difficult. We know what youth was like, and we have an idea, or at least a dream, of what old age will be like (I'm guessing any retirement scenario, particularly one that includes relocating to somewhere warm in the winter, has to be classified as a dream these days), but the goals and expectations for that middle part of life aren't so well defined.
   After some serious reflection in the past year, I've decided to make a greater effort to set goals, and reflect on my progress, during midlife. This blog is one of my first steps! I hope you enjoy reading about my journey and learn from my experiences. Hollah if you're over 25!