Middle age has its compensations. Youth is bound hand and5 n4 G# J2 m3 t+ h6 ^, f- ]$ R
foot with the shackles of public opinion. Middle age enjoys freedom.
" r& ] U L$ a. K" @ I remember that when i left the school i said to myself: __1__6 |6 U+ {7 e7 ~! y! H& N$ ]; L8 {
"Hence forward. I can get up when i like and go to bed when i& A$ l9 W! e6 v' k$ R" ]3 C n7 ]
like." That of course was an exaggeration, and i soon found that; r! Q; z" e6 H$ t: B
whenever you have an aim you must sacrifice something of freedom to achieve5 t! S0 o: ~3 |8 K* J7 d
it. But by the time you have reached middle age you discovered how __2__- H' u) O- k8 i; K; Z0 ?/ O
much freedom it was worth to sacrifice in order to achieve any aim that __3__
5 o( {* S6 H+ `& Q! t& N1 j you have on view. When i was a boy i was tortured by shyness, __4__
# l+ q% q1 c, R9 ?! ]2 N2 J, D; b and middle age has to a great extent brought me a relief of this. I __5__' c; J5 {' L" n7 R. B" y
have now no such feeling and i save myself much discomfort. I always0 o/ ?7 t$ E# ^
hated cold water, but for many years i bath in cold seas because __6__
5 c( @) k* n9 e( e) j: q) c& q i wanted to be like everybody. __7__) S! {. c' v8 e8 R, u8 m, P* x
It was until quite late in life that i discovered how easy it was __8__3 i: C5 ~' F1 N3 g" Q
to say:"i don't know." i find with middle age no one expects me to
! A i6 b/ l( i walk twenty-five miles, or to play a scratch game of golf, or to dive
x/ Q# L8 R/ y from a height of thirty feet. This is all to the good and makes life+ h: f) [2 g* s: O' N
pleasant, but i should no longer care if they do. That is what makes __9__% p" L3 f [* i" W' O( i: t; r& t
youth unhappy, the vehement anxiety to be like other people, and
. i7 M# ~( f( _% g& ] that is what makes middle age intolerable, the reconciliation with __10__
+ N3 O% n, r+ R" R o1 R oneself. |