I am the last person to complain about hitting significant age milestones. Having escaped several close calls and one major scare, let me put it another way. All my high school friends seem a lot younger than our parents were when they were our age. We appear more active, more engaged, still working at a feverish pace, and willing to take on new adventures at the drop of a hat. What used be considered a time to “slow down” now seems to be a time to “do what I’ve always wanted to do.”
I suspect this is not a new phenomena, and will certainly not be unique to our generation. (As an aside that’s why it’s foolish for political planners to continue to suggest that the “retirement age” of adults hasn’t changed since the advent of Social Security). (Sorry about my getting away from meditation).
Life is an experience of ripening. That’s why when someone suggests I’m getting old, I reply, “I’m just getting ripe.” The green fruit we once were hardly resembles that which we matured. Our judgments of each other are necessarily imperfect, as our experience and knowledge of any human life is limited. As our horizon widens we become more charitable and patient. We learn to understand the truth and beauty of the Hindu proverb, “To know all, is to forgive all.”
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