Is age really just a number?

So I turned 55 last week, I didn't think it was a big deal, I mean I guess a birthday is a big deal in and of itself, as the alternative is that you don't have a birthday. So there is that. But a few people called this a milestone birthday, whatever that means. I didn't get it. I mean it really is just a number. Is 55 that much different than 54, or 56, or 60? Am I really that much older or closer to dying? Or closer to being old? I think it is all just a little bit silly, I feel the same this week that I did last week and I will probably feel in two week. If I lied and told someone that I was really only 54, would they look at me differently? Would they say wow, thank god you are not 55, as that is just really old.

I just find it funny that we feel ages are milestones when really they are not. They are really just numbers, maybe not arbitrary so much but numbers. I think the reality is that people who like birthdays just like a reason to celebrate. "Oh my god I am turning 50, I need to have a party, and a vacation, and a nervous breakdown" Or just a reason to tell of your friends of your new number: "look at me I am (insert round number)"

I think at the end of the day people should just be happy they are alive, healthy, or not and then be sad, but to place such an emphasis on a number just seems so odd. Next time I turn a round number which I guess will be 60, I will just tell people that really I am 61 and see if then they even remember.