I'd sent this only to Venkat....but on second thought, I think I'll send it to the list.
On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 12:41 PM, Venkat Mangudi <[email protected]>wrote: Damn, 40 years old already. :-) Venkat, if you are going to swear at being 40...what are you going to do when you cross 50 or 60? I find that as long as one has good health (alas, this is not always under one's control), one can grow older without growing "old". In fact, as my family "duties" and "obligations" are done, I have found myself free to learn a lot of things that interest me....lead a life without worry, for the most part....and enjoy my life in a way I certainly did not, when restricted to being a wife and mother, and playing all the "social" roles of a TamBram Mami. I do exactly as I please now (don't get into the vethalai pakku circuit any more, for example!)...and life is just wonderful. I've never had a full-time job, being content with either part-time ones, or voluntary work (again, I kept changing my field of work...from animal rescue to spastic children to blind children to tourism to art to wildlife to children again)....I've led, and continue to lead, a very happy (I'd say, near-ideally happy!) life. I've been lucky that one person's earnings have been enough for both of us; since our financial and physical health has weathered the storms, we've managed. What makes you swear? Is it the thought of what *else* you could have done with your life? Or the worry that what's left may not be another 40 years of productive life? One is past, the other is unknown. So...enjoy every moment that you have. Yes, my faculties may dim, my life may be cut short, or sink in pain or suffering...but who knows? We all seem to be falling into this trap of venerating youth. Healthy and active middle age/old age is just as wonderful, I happen to think. I don't hark back to the "old days" because the "new days" are just as good! The flower may wither, but it needs to do so in order that the fruit may appear. Yeuggh...sounds AWFUL , so I'm taking this off-list. So...please...don't damn any number, in years, that you've reached... the alternative is a state of being, or non-being, that one cannot visualize!
