No Fluff: A Year of Life
The glorification of youth has echoed through history, and the preference for youthfulness persists. Who determined that life has a specific age? And why do some fear wrinkles and gray hair, allowing marketing to label them as flaws? They sell products and perform surgeries to conceal them! A person is born with their sustenance and lifespan already decreed; they live in this world as God wills. Is there an age limit for death? The elderly, the young, and infants alike die, whether from illness or not.
Life is a series of successive stages and challenges, which do not resemble one another across individuals. There is no specific age for success, nor for practicing an activity or hobby. There is no age limit for marriage, study, learning, leisure, or sitting with friends.
Life consists of chapters, each with its own unique character. It is a period, not a crisis! It has its events and achievements, people and places, situations and lessons, forming part of our history and memories. Then it passes, making way for other matters, different affairs, and new circumstances.
Change is a cosmic law. Generations succeed one another, and years pass. This is the “reality” of life since the earliest centuries, not a sudden transformation. This is the worldly model: aging, changing circumstances, and altering appearances. Why, unfortunately, is it met with clumsy attempts to escape? Why do some reduce life to mere old age and helplessness, dismissing the value of experience and maturity? And where are those miserable, lamenting individuals compared to the leaders and innovators who achieved distinction and excelled in the advanced stages of their lives—across various fields and throughout different eras? We cannot list even a single person in this limited space.
The term “midlife crisis” emerged in an attempt to understand what happens to a person after the age of forty. Interpretations became mixed and were even embodied in satirical works as a behavioral decline incompatible with one’s age group. However, advanced studies have concluded the opposite of this superficial prevailing understanding: a large number of individuals experience increased feelings of satisfaction, stability, and balance. These individuals have chosen to understand themselves and their needs, confront their problems, maintain optimism, manage stress, strengthen family bonds, and contribute to society.
Life continues according to the natural order established by God Almighty, characterized by diversity and renewal. This is what grants it variety and continuity. No matter how many years you have accumulated, no matter what you have missed, you are here...
