This article was written for Annabel & Grace, which is now part of Rest Less.
One of the things about being the right side of fifty is that you may well have been in a relationship for a very long time. If you are – or like me, have been – in the “decades club”, you may also be interested in the question “Does passion eventually morph into friendship?”
Sex can be enormous important as we all know. But as we travel along with our partner through the various stages of life – buying a property, having children, working all hours to pay the bills, the menopause, becoming empty nesters, retiring – passion can often get lost along the way. Hardly surprising when you consider most of us relax into a relationship and perhaps haven’t the time or inclination to make the effort for anything other than infrequent, perhaps – dare I say it – rather routine sex?
It’s easy to get a bit wistful when you think back to when you first met your partner. The raw excitement, the unbridled lust, the newness of it all. It was probably adventurous, a bit naughty, with rather a lot of gasps and a few laughs thrown in. (Hope my son isn’t reading this). In other words, rather addictive fun.
As the years float by, passion can be almost imperceptibly replaced by domesticity and a comforting sense of security. Not surprising really because once you have been treated to the glorious sight of your partner sitting on the loo or, come to that, him catching you waxing your upper lip, it gets harder to relight that particular fire (take that Take That).
So why do we let passion disappear? I know there are some (very lucky) people reading this who will disagree because they have worked hard at maintaining an interesting sex life. But I think there are probably more people like me, who have – almost without thinking – just let it slide.
Having recently started dating again, I have been lucky enough to rediscover passion. Which is what prompted me to ask the titular question. This time however I’m going to keep cooking on gas!
Listen to our podcast – You’re Never Too Old To… Have Good Sex
Did you know that there are multiple benefits of an active sex life after 50?
You can also read how to revive your sex life here