Young, yet not so…

Wished a sister of mine on her birthday, who ruefully mentioned that she has turned 39! Pointed out to her, being the wiser elder one, that next year she will be joining the 40-club and told her it’s time to become wiser 😃. That didn’t go down well though. Guess, standing at that boundary-line of about to cross into mid-life and suddenly realizing you are not so young, and yet young enough, must be a scary proposition. Plus, the responsibility of young children, aged parents and in-laws, while wanting to cash-on in the prime years at workplace, must be daunting tasks as well.

We don’t give enough credit to people in their 40s. They are the ones who are holding on to everything, trying to maintain a balance between family, work and friends. They are completely stressed out and never get much appreciation for what they do. In fact, as per everyone else, they are either not doing enough or doing everything wrong.

By the time you are in your 40s, they expect you to be sorted and wise. They expect you be “settled”. You, somehow, are not entitled to make any more mistakes. If you are the eldest one in the family, then you are supposed to shoulder certain responsibilities as well. You become the family counselor. You are required to guide and mentor the young ones. 

What if you don’t want to do it? What if you are scared that the advices may not be for the best? No one wants to listen to you. They don’t want you to grieve or show a sad face. They want you to carry on without showing your emotions.

Is that justified?

Let the ones in their 40s be as young as they want to be. Let them live without stress, or else they will become another statistics in the number of young people dying of heart attack. We don’t want that, do we?