Who would have guessed? Turning 50 is awesome! Here are some of the things I am most enjoying about joining the senior citizen club:

The celebration. There is nothing better than having everyone you love most in the same room. Hopefully you were fortunate enough to have a party or at least get showered with good wishes on your 50th birthday.

Our enormous glasses wardrobe. We never tire of one pair because there’s a constant parade of change: computer glasses, driving glasses, reading glasses, cooking dinner glasses, and face-to-face conversation glasses. Never a dull fashion moment.

Everything looks better. I suspect this has to do with the plethora of glasses. Our houses look cleaner, our pores smaller, and our spouses look hotter than ever.

The kids have their own money. For years we doled out $20 bills like they were sticks of gum. Hopefully by now, not only are most of us relieved of the never-ending shoe/backpack/movie ticket/gas money parade, but the children actually buy things for us.

Discounts are everywhere! Besides the big-ticket discounts on travel and financial planning courtesy of AARP, who would turn down a free donut, or 25 percent off a Papa John’s pizza, or even 10 percent off a Kindle Fire?

Ladies, finally, we’re never cold. Can I get an amen?

Guilt-free game play. Solitaire, crossword puzzles and Sudoku are no longer time-wasters, but mental acuity builders.

We’re in the prime of our earning potential. Well, being a writer that one hasn’t worked out so well yet for me, but I hope it has for you.

We no longer have to fret about achieving greatness. Most of us have come to terms with the fact we will not be president, an Olympic athlete or a Nobel Prize winner, so we can just relax and find the joy in loving our families and doing whatever it is we do best.

We can rely on solid friendships. Some of our friends have been around long enough to witness all of our immaturity and foolishness along the way. C.S. Lewis put it like this: “Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art… It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival.” At 50, our survival packs are full.

We are simply glad to be alive. By now many of us have survived injuries, battled disease, and walked through mind-numbing grief. We know that every day is a gift–an opportunity to come closer to being the person we were created to be. Today, and every day,I am grateful for the opportunity. Viva 50!