What’s My Age Again? – The discourse of time

I have recently come across this quotation and it had me thinking :
The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.  - Muhammad Ali
In that thinking state, I wrote the following.
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What’s My Age Again? – The discourse of time

Often we find knowledge thirsty people seeking “truth” via meditation. But is the truth so difficult to find? Sages say that there is no age for learning, and we agree to that statement all too eagerly. Knowledge has no age, no limit and no regional borders.

Knowledge is everywhere; and at 18, all I look for is the essence of truth in my everyday life. However, perseverance can be deceptive. Being fully aware of that, I must say that I – like others of my age – am very skeptical and dubious about what I perceive. Rather, I try to weigh those data with my morals and principals. I try to value them with my judgment and sentiments. Only then can I decide whether or not to believe in what I see.

From the eyes of a middle-aged man, my attempts at understanding life might seem childish. What I try to value through my morals may only seem a matter of youthful fascination to him. At his age, he would definitely have a better understanding of the world and of life, and he would readily be able to distinguish between right and wrong without having to reach his answer through a series of matching and mismatching jigsaws. However, what he can’t deny is the fact that he had once been on the receiving end of such notions – he had learned from his experience only.

Our understanding of the world changes with age. As we mature, we learn; and as we learn, we mature. This never ending process turns us upside down from time to time, and leads us to a different dimension of thoughts and understanding.

But is life all about changing? What happens to the ambitions of the 18-year-old by the time he reaches 35? Why is it so that the colors of youth fade out into an insipid gray? This only happens when there is no will, since we all know that when there is will there is a way.

 Allow me to bring in Sharbat Gula as my example. The Afghan girl had nothing but blazing fire in her eyes when her picture was taken at the age of 13. Gula had in her eyes the rage to fight, the passion to avenge for the sufferance of her people, and pure hatred for those who destroyed her nation. When Gula’s picture was shot again after 27 years, the flame was no longer there. She had most probably learnt that life was not about revenge, but about acceptance and tolerance. Maybe her age had taught her that “revenge” was the apple of discord that would lead her tribe into more trouble. Maybe…

What I am trying to say is that age and experience changes the way we perceive the world. Knowledge itself can be warped into an entirely different meaning due to the age factor. Yes, change is inevitable, but these changes should not be so abysmal as to alter the truth for a person. Even though life teaches us how to grow up and be mature, we should not let the dream factor slip out of our fingers when we have time.