“Age is just a number” – we’ve all heard it before; and it is definitely not true; but we do decide the extent of its influence over us, and shape our lives accordingly.

A lot of it has to do with pace. I love to have breakfast, including numerous coffees, over the course of hours. The newspaper that never gets read as we gaze at the outside sky to evaluate the endless possibilities, most likely ending up doing not very much at all – that is my kind of day. Others, who claim, often quite accurately, to be young at heart, might like to do a dozen different types of sport, and not even enjoy talking about aches and pains. If those people ever want to see me run, they better make me late for a bus or tram, and the only way to make that happen is through a very nice temptation indeed!

Aldous Huxley wrote that “experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” If there is an age difference between two people, the older one has clearly had more time to live, learn, grow, toughen up; but there is no guarantee as to whether that time has been used to these ends. I have met youngens of astounding wisdom and maturity, just as I’ve met men blossoming into their 70’s and 80’s with a bubbling adolescent spirit that can leave you baffled. How can one compare the life of adventurous disposition to the sheltered one? A lot of life can also transpire within the radius of a few small blocks. The main thing is what type of company a person is, and the aura they carry, all of which pertains to time as a usually significant centering factor.

To leave you with another quote to mull over: “the value of things lies not in the duration of time that they last, but in the intensity with which they happen. For this reason, unforgettable moments, inexplicable things, and incomparable people all exist” – Fernando Pessoa.

Take care, and all the best.