I ran across this quote from an unknown source while thumbing through some old magazines, and was rather intrigued by it:

If you didn’t know how old you were,
how old would you think you were?

The quote is a remodelling of the motivational tenet that challenges people to charge into  challenges  as if they cannot fail – try as if you can’t fail, sing as if no one is listening, dance like nobody is watching … you get the point. But this age-specific rewording throws the whole concept of adulthood and aging into somewhat of a tizzy for me; especially when my twenties seems so far away from me, and my forties looming ever so close by.

Do I indeed act my age because I have a preconceived notion of how someone at that age is supposed to act? And conversely, if I somehow had some form of ten-second-Tom memory problem much like the character from 50 First Dates, where I did not remember my age except in 10 second bursts, would I still say I was this age? Based on the things I do, and the fervour by which I do the, how old would I think I was?

As I take stock of the people and friends around me, it is most definitely clear that these people do not know how old they are. Hovering mostly at around late thirties and mid-forties, these incredibly active and frenetic people seem to have discovered what Ponce De Leon could not … the fountain of youth! They are exactly the people you see out there …  surfing everyday (some doing multiple sessions), they are out on the slopes snow boarding, hiking every day, running marathons, doing yoga every day … all in addition to their full time jobs and careers, family obligations. And some have raised single and multiple children, who at times can be seen having a difficult time keeping up with their so called elderly parents.

I don’t recall people in their thirties, let alone their forties, doing the same things when I was younger; for the life of me, I just don’t remember people being that active when I was younger. Perhaps I just wasn’t paying attention, perhaps I was surrounded by sedentary adults, perhaps financial and socio-economic situations prevented them from pursuing such leisurely activities … I just can’t say with certainty.

What I can say with certainty is that the ‘adults’ around me act a lot younger than they are … both from a social and personal view point. What does it mean? I can’t say for sure, nor can I postulate … mostly because we’re going surfing right now!

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