Life is a kaleidoscopic
spectacle, presenting varying aspects at various stages. The years of childhood
and boyhood are a period free from care or earnestness: it is only in the youth
that one comes to taste some of the realities of man’s existence on this globe.
A youth merges into manhood, which in turn passes into old age; life unfolds
itself in many new and startling ways. There is no hiatus between one period
and another, though each is distinguishable from the other in some outstanding manner.
Youth:
To stand at the threshold of youth is
indeed thrilling. One’s physical. mental and spiritual powers are nearing
maturity. It is the blossoming of life which youth confers upon man. The
pulsation of energy which courses through the being of a young man is intoxicating
and maddening. It is a period of growth and fulfillment, the limits of which
are unknown and unknowable. A young man is conscious of ever-growing energy and
enthusiasm. He is buoyant, hopeful, confident and adventurous. The world lies
before him and he is full of boundless exuberance and vitality. He is eager to
drink life to the last to taste every kind of experience, to cherish the
highest ambitions and aspirations. Nothing seems to be difficult or impossible
or unattainable.
Youth is governed by passions and
emotions, untempered by the sobering influence of reason and foresight. A young
man is impetuous, lives in the present, unmindful of the future. His very
vitality and exuberance proves his bane. He rushes in where angels fear to
tread. Youth is madness, an overflow of energy and enthusiasm, but it is a fine
madness, a thrilling intoxication which man can ill afford to renounce.
Manhood:
While as a young man, one did not
know the measure of’ one’s growth, now he knows the limits of his development.
The period of growth has reached the saturation point. The man attains his-full
stature and knows how tall or imposing it is. Not only this, he also acquires
greater knowledge of the world and his surroundings.
The youthful dream of conquering
the world with sheer will power seems to fade. The odds are heavy and
insurmountable. The struggle is bitter and prolonged and victories not within
easy reach. The fiery zeal of youth is toned down by reason and experience. One
does not give up one’s ideals and aspirations, but one is less impatient and
more tolerant in realizing them. Youth moves headlong like the torrent of lava,
but the course of manhood can be compared-to a river flowing placidly in the
plains. Again, in youth there are few responsibilities and liabilities, but
manhood is the period when man is saddled with various burdens. In fact, it in
manhood that one tastes the full sweetness and also the bitterness of the cup
of life.
Old Age:
Even as the bud blossoms into a flower
and finally sheds its petals and fades why, so does youth pass into manhood and
then fade into old age. The last period of one’s life is a time of declining
powers and energy. It is the downward process, eventually terminating in the
external silence. But it is highly pessimistic creed to hold, that one fills
one’s old age with nothing but regrets.
Old age is undoubtedly a
physiological phenomenon, but to feel old is an attitude of mind. There are
people who forever remain young in spirit, though the weight of years may force
down their physical frame. The lives of many are so full and active that they
have nothing to regret about their youth and manhood.