1 year for a person who lived 50 years is relatively short(2%) compared to someone who lived for only 20 years (5%)
If the 50 year old looks back 5 years, their life probably wasn't all that different. If they look back 15, their kids were still at home and they had a different job title but they were fundamentally the same person, and they feel they've been that way for a very long time.