I Don't Mind Getting Old...

...aslong as I can do it with dignity.

So I'm reaching the very end of my time at University. In 4 or 5 months time, I will no longer be a Student, but instead I will be a "productive member of society."

[Just to note, I'm not implying that Students aren't productives members of society, I'm simply stating that once you've left education, you become more productive, since you don't have your education holding you down.]

By this point in my life, I'm already considered "grown up" because of my age. I've already gained the occasional nickname of "old-man" from my fellow students, because whilst they're only just hitting their twenties, I'm reaching the mid-point. Ok, not a huge gap, but still a gap.

I have family and friends that are hitting, or nearing, the thirty mark that sometimes feel worried about their continuing march towards that particular point in your life when people expect you to no longer be interested in childish things and to take life seriously.

I assume this is what they worry about anyway, as it's what always worried me.

At what age, for instance, do I stop hanging around on forums and debating the intricacies of a Videogame storyline, and instead start debating the intracies of Tunisian Politics?

I've come to realise, however, that none of this particularly matters.

As I grow old, I will do so with dignity. Growing old with dignity means that I still get to do what I want to do, I still get to make my decisions, like what I like, love what I love.

Even if that means I come across as crazy or childish.

If I reach beyond the age of Seventy, I will still play videogames, I will still debate with friends over the intracicies of a Videogame storyline, and I will be happy.

The great thing about the human mind is that we have the ability to learn new things, gain new information and knowledge, and experience new things all the time...but at the end of the day, we also have the option to follow the things we're greatly interested in, and stick to them for the rest of our lives.

Who cares if one or two of my interests are childish in nature?

Life is short, and if we can't laugh at ourselves sometimes, then what on earth is the point?

I sincerely hope that when I reach Seventy, my future wife is still surrounded by cuddly toys...because the day that she abandons those is the day that she abandons everything about her that I truly love.