Philosophy Lesson (not to be taken seriously)

The ages of man (and woman, of course):

1. Childhood: the age of discovery. A constant state of discovery of new things, a stage that is taken for granted and in many respect wasted because of the lack of deep analytical skills. Childhood only become magical once we have got over it. It is our memory of it that makes it a special stage. The older I get the better I appreciate my childhood.
2. Adolescence: the age of the absolute. Things can only be right or wrong, black or white. There are good people and bad people. Relativity is a meaningless word. There are no shades of grey. I don’t miss my sweet sixteen. I was glad to get over that stage.
3. Youth: the defining age. Time to make the decisions that will shape the rest of our lives: the degree we will study, the university we’ll go to, the first job and for some even marriage and children. There was a time when these decisions were made and accepted they were for life, but that has changed now. Some of us postpone making those decisions for years, some try to turn back the clock by renouncing the path taking and moving to another one, accepting that we have to start from scratch again. This has stretched the age of youth from our 20s to our 40s for some people.
4. Middle Age: what used to be the age of content, when one’s lot was accepted and all that was left to do was to get on with things until the next age. Now this has been brought into question and given us the age of discontent for some. Drastic decisions are made: divorce, leaving jobs, changing careers, buying unpractical and expensive things.
5. Old age: the age of waiting. When the job is gone, sometimes taken from us, the aches set it. The end of the journey is in sight. It is up to us to choose what we make in that waiting room that takes us no where. I think we should try to do what we can within our possibilities: physical more than economic.

These are my definitions, I am well aware that I have stretched my 3rd stage far longer than most people. My excuse for this is that I am well are that I only have one life, I don’t believe in reincarnation or afterlife, and there are so many things I am interested in. I can’t bear not having a go to them, even if I know I’ll never master any of them.