Middle age has its compensations. Youth is bound hand and
" z. H' g; c. C( @ foot with the shackles of public opinion. Middle age enjoys freedom.
, o- `" B3 G3 g' z4 f; p I remember that when i left the school i said to myself: __1__, T6 Z- j$ B/ t8 i T
"Hence forward. I can get up when i like and go to bed when i
. S8 X- l: [% x9 `/ y' a5 w like." That of course was an exaggeration, and i soon found that( F7 c1 ?' f A! m
whenever you have an aim you must sacrifice something of freedom to achieve) V$ a/ ]0 t5 i8 X g/ R9 G) S
it. But by the time you have reached middle age you discovered how __2__
5 ]" b- ^: A5 \+ O9 \9 w$ Z- \: A much freedom it was worth to sacrifice in order to achieve any aim that __3__6 K; A. b$ m3 c# n% c0 ~) P
you have on view. When i was a boy i was tortured by shyness, __4__
. N3 w# Z# C3 M, G and middle age has to a great extent brought me a relief of this. I __5__
4 o' _' u& V$ | have now no such feeling and i save myself much discomfort. I always1 F4 q, K; t/ G& O. ^
hated cold water, but for many years i bath in cold seas because __6__2 `. y% `, b1 Q O& A8 ]: x
i wanted to be like everybody. __7__
! \* _# `* T) M5 d# E It was until quite late in life that i discovered how easy it was __8__9 P: z7 ]* T! A, x* g
to say:"i don't know." i find with middle age no one expects me to" M, F6 h! ]" ]/ v% T) q" S4 G
walk twenty-five miles, or to play a scratch game of golf, or to dive! I5 L& f; B/ D
from a height of thirty feet. This is all to the good and makes life Q5 L2 o0 }0 o
pleasant, but i should no longer care if they do. That is what makes __9__
5 ~- L7 L- H0 Y8 L2 m4 w* _; @2 `- J' ?# [ youth unhappy, the vehement anxiety to be like other people, and; A6 L5 y& [: Z' q5 P
that is what makes middle age intolerable, the reconciliation with __10__
0 @1 M% ~ }* M8 ^! S oneself. |