I must say I'm firmly in the latter camp. As some of you already know, I had a bad-tempered and self-righteous father who sent me to a boarding school that was totally unsuited to my personality. And when I went there I was bullied by some of the other boys for not being stylish or laid-back enough. Not to mention the poor-quality teaching and regimented daily routine.
So I'm very glad I won't be young again, but others have much more positive memories of nurtured talents, blossoming friendships and inspiring teachers.
My sister had a much more enjoyable childhood. She was an obedient child who managed to keep our father sweet and who attended a local school that suited her more straightforward personality. And having lived with motor neurone disease for 18 years, she might well wish she was young and healthy again.
Of course those people who would love to be young again are surely forgetting how much wisdom and experience they've accumulated in the intervening years. Would they really want to relive a time when they saw everything with such innocent and gullible eyes and all the subtleties and profundities passed them by?
And surely they've forgotten that they were totally controlled by their parents, which was fine if they felt cherished and appreciated but not so fine if they didn't. A lot of children can't wait to break free of their parents and start their own independent life.
Without doubt, the twenty years of my life just gone have been far and away more enjoyable and fulfilling than the first twenty.
I don’t want to be young
ReplyDeleteBut I’d be happy to be younger
John: I'd like to be a few years younger and free of creaky knees!
DeleteNo thank you. I wouldn't want to go back to being young and having no control over my life.
ReplyDeleteMary: My thoughts entirely. I had no control whatever over my schooling.
DeleteI had a carefree, lovely childhood. I would never go back
ReplyDeleteJoanne: Too many people aren't lucky enough to have had such a good childhood.
DeleteI would like to visit the past, but not necessarily stay there. But that's more about having a nostalgia trip. I would also like to go back so that I could tell myself to look after my health more, so that I'd look better now! But no, I wouldn't want to relive it all!
ReplyDeleteSx
Ms Scarlet: I've always had a very healthy lifestyle but nevertheless my body isn't as smooth-functioning as it used to be.
DeleteI loved my school years and would enjoy going back just to be able to spend time with friends everyday. However, living with my mother again would kill me, so I’d have to pass.
ReplyDeleteBijoux: The same applies to me. My mother used to drive me crazy. It was impossible to have an intelligent conversation with her.
DeleteNo thanks....and have always wondered at those who say that their schooldays were the happiest days of their life....I appreciated the work of the staff at school, but cannot say I enjoyed those years.
ReplyDeleteFly: People who say their schooldays were the happiest days are very lucky. Some people have absolutely dreadful childhoods.
DeleteI had a happy and protected childhood and schooldays with some dark and sad childhood moments as for example today the 27 of january when in 1945 Auschwitz was liberated by the Russian army and two of my mothers cousins came home after two horrible years . For me it was always a strange day and today I still put a candle in the window to remember. Did you ever had the possibility to discuss with your father about all you went through ?
ReplyDeleteHannah
Hannah: Thanks for reminding me this is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Your mother's cousins must have had a horrific couple of years. No, I never discussed my childhood with my father as he refused to speak to me for 20 years.
DeleteI'm so sorry. What happened to your father to behave like this and did your mother not try to arrange things between you and your father ?
DeleteHannah
Hannah: As far as I know, my mother never stood up to him. She used to meet me at a local pub because he wouldn't allow me in their house. I think he simply couldn't cope with a son who was so independent and developing a very different outlook on life. He just wanted "a chip off the old block".
DeleteI'm really contented with the age I'm at now. And my health has greatly improved. Huge bonus. And I have time, the greatest luxury of all to decide how exactly fun my day is going to be. No going back, thanks.
ReplyDeleteXO
WWW
www: Good to know your health has greatly improved, as you were plagued with medical problems for a while. And yes, we can decide exactly what fun we're going to have each day, no longer in thrall to bossy employers.
DeleteNick, I agree with you that while being a few years (decades?) younger would be nice only because it would all more time to enjoy so many things. My childhood was not unhappy, but my high school days are best left in the past. Now, the past two decades of retirement have been the most wonderful part of life! Too bad it couldn't it have started earlier?
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: Two decades of retirement, that's quite something. I've only been retired for almost five years but it's been wonderfully self-indulgent!
DeleteAnd, we certainly should indulge ourselves, Nick.
ReplyDeleteBeatrice: My big indulgence is travel. Not so much as in previous years, but I still like to take short trips around the UK.
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