Following on from my last two inspiration letters, I’d like to ask you an important question today: Are you too old to change?
Too old – for what exactly?
- Too old for something in your life to still change?
- Too old for joy to return?
- Too old to feel that lightness you’ve been missing?
The Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius is said to have once spoken some very beautiful words:
Youth is not a time of life, it is a state of mind.
It is the result of a will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions.
It means the triumph of courage over timidity,
of adventure over comfort.
Growing old doesn’t mean having lived many years.
You grow old when you give up your ideals.
The years may wrinkle your skin —
but giving up your ideals wrinkles the soul.
Prejudices, doubts, fears,
and hopelessness are the enemies
that slowly weigh us down
and turn us to dust long before we die.
You are young as long as you can still marvel and be moved.
As long as you ask, like an insatiable child, “And then what?”
As long as you challenge life
and take joy in the game of living.
You are as young as your faith.
As old as your doubts.
As young as your self-confidence.
As young as your hope.
As old as your discouragement.
You will remain young as long as you remain receptive:
open to the beautiful, the good, the great,
open to the messages of nature,
of your fellow human beings, and of the mysterious.
But should your heart one day
become etched by pessimism,
gnawed by cynicism,
then may God have mercy
on your soul – the soul of an old man.
Marcus Aurelius (121–180), Roman Emperor
And with that, I think everything that needs to be said this week has been said. Plenty to reflect on. Because, as Marcus Aurelius so wonderfully puts it: “You are young as long as you can still marvel and be moved.”
So let me ask you: What is something you want to be moved by again? Or are you too old to change?
I’m wishing you all the best — and a beautiful, light, and youthful week.
