Turning 27

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  • "Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals.  Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." ~Samuel Ullman

     I'm 27, Period. A couple of years ago, I was worried about the quarter-life crisis. Now someone tells me that over time, the average lifespan might reduce to the mid-fifties (Alexander died at the age of 32, that leaves me 4 years to beat the current world record for conquering the world). When I was younger, I wanted to be old. Now that I'm older, I wish I could go back to my younger days. Is this what they acknowledge as the mid-life crisis?
      I can't help but admitting it - I feel old, rather grown-up. I still play soccer for a couple of hours every day and my hair is still intact (and black!). But, the spring in my step seems to have disappeared. My prized possessions of a good memory and creativity seem to have taken a bad seat in the harried stream of life. I feel heavier, especially at the middle (probably to balance my center of gravity) and yawn every other hour (notwithstanding the fact that I've just had lunch).
     Over the last 6 months, I've had a chance to re-witness my childhood or rather re-construct it. I've watched my nephew grow up from 0-6 months (sounds like the size on a kid's dress). More importantly, the way my parents have contributed to his upbringing. Watching from a distance, I see myself in the toddler. And understand the amount of sleepless nights borne by my parents to get me here. As an afterthought, wouldn't it be great if I could reverse the aging process and start shrinking? (I'm no Brad Pitt, but my case would surely be curious)
      On the other hand, I look at my nonagenarian grandmother. She needs help to walk, and struggles with her eyesight and hearing. But she's had a contented life. Her 7 children are well-off and take care of her needs and wishes. It would be a miracle if I could make it alive for that long. But would I have a similar life or a plain sorry ending?
     So, I'm 27 (gasp!), Getting married within a month (cheers!), and planning to settle down in life (sigh! settling down is fine, settling expenses isn't). There's not much of a choice that I have, so I might as well reset the counters and start all over again.

"And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years."
                                                                                               - Abraham Lincoln

Comments

  1. RamakrishnanOctober 7, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    Please do consult a doctor. 27 is a very young age to take hit on memory :P

    ReplyDelete

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