Age is Only a Number

I realised the other day that growing old is not as bad as I anticipated it would be, when I was 15 and 40 seemed like a lifetime away! I am now 40 and I realise that I am young enough to still enjoy so many things, but wiser and in a better financial position to actually participate in them.

I do think that it is important to grow old gracefully and balance out life, or the prospect of ending up like Keith Richards could well be on the cards. Then again, you may well end up living an incredibly mundane life too, and I don't think that is really the objective of "living". I think all of us want to experience more than that sense of "existing" or merely "getting by" on a daily basis.

Then again it's not that I am saying there's nothing better than lying around idle with a good book and perhaps a box of chocolates for company, but I think when it comes to the crunch by the time we reach our forties, if our lives are not a whirlwind of fame and fortune, if we are not directors of companies, or rich, or famous, or both, then we at least want to have some sense of personal achievement, no matter how minute it may seem to us.

I realise as I grow older that there are some things I wanted to accomplish when I was younger, which are no longer possible, but that many other opportunities, in fact most of them, are still options which I can delve into and pursue.

For instance all my friends left school and scooted overseas straight away for gap year work, more like gap two year work, because we South Africans were fortunate enough to be able to work in the United Kingdom for a two year period, before the laws changed. I was too nervous, and did enjoy change, and so it was only at the tender age of 35 that I looked into the option of living and working abroad, and ventured forth to do so. I was bitten by the bug after that, realising that the world is a huge and incredible place with so much to offer. I had been so naive and now all I want to do is take as many opportunities as I can, and travel as much as I can. I am envious now of those who have the nerve to leave their lives behind in order to pursue a new life in a completely different country. I'm even more envious of those who do this later in life. Because of this it no longer worries me to put out my feelers and see what is "out there" (other than aliens) and this has resulted in a few job offers and a teenager who is "amped" for me to work overseas so that he can travel along too. The prospect is no longer daunting and I will relish any adventure which arises.

Of course, I'm pleased too about my decision, because this taking of the bull by the horns has also made the teenager realise that the world can indeed be his oyster and he is forging his career path in a direction that will hopefully take him in all directions! It's all I can do to stop him getting out the atlas, taking a pin and randomly marking out his destinations in no particular order, so that he can jet off the minute he has finished his schooling. My sister, having recently moved back home after working abroad for nearly eight years, has been stoking the fires and encouraging him and he is now all for it. I am delighted, and rather nervous too, but I will never stand in his way and I hope that perhaps by the time he reaches the age I am now he will have more than a few stories to tell.

If you cannot travel then I recommend taking up a hobby, or getting out and about, or enjoying the arts and culture offered to us in our respective towns and cities. Take a night class, meet new people, learn a new skill, go to a concert in the park, enjoy spending time with your children, if you have them, and expericiencing their hobbies too. My latest sport is mountain biking and I am loving every minute of it (and keeping fit at the same time).

For all who have never stepped outside their "comfort zone" and think it may perhaps be too late to do so, I have to tell you all that it is "never too late to try", so let me encourage you to do so, to "go for it", to try it out, to go out on the limb. I often wondered about those people who jumped from aeroplanes on their seventieth, eightieth or ninetieth birthdays, and now I know that I am probably going to be one of those very people who celebrates my age no matter what, and does not let it hold me back. I say "yes please" to keeping our minds young too, and I raise the argument that it has been proven that those people who enjoy and learn and test their minds throughout their lives (no matter what their age) in turn look younger than their age, and also decrease the risk of Alzheimber's disease. So try it, because unless you do you'll honestly never know! Celebrate life and celebrate your age, and don't let it hold you back.