Why 21st century maturity is where it’s at

A CERTAIN maturity has unmistakable advantages. For those who have managed to leave the drudgery of the nine-to-five behind, the plus points are glaringly obvious. And not only is there abundant time to devote to your preferred lifestyle, hobbies and interests, there is also the good sense to have worked out what those preferences actually are.

How many of us are left scratching our heads at how we used to dash this way and that way in search of who knows what in order to impress lord knows who? Maturity doesn’t always get a good press, but it most definitely does have some very definite benefits.

The timely advance of science
There are the obvious downsides, but we are fortunate to be reaching our peaks at a time of unparalleled scientific and medical innovation. Not only is life expectancy rising, so is the quality of the life we can expect to lead. Many of the tiresome irritations that bedevilled men and women of previous generations are being eased out by ever more clever scientific breakthroughs of one sort or another. The fact that we know so much about how to look after ourselves, not least in terms of diet, skin care and exercise is, of course, only the start of it.

For example, those of us who are perhaps not quite as sharp of hearing as we once were are now able to take advantage of the remarkable hearing enhancementssupplied by makers such as Starkey, Bernafon and Widex, all of whom manage to produce earpieces that are so tiny no-one would ever know they were there and which somehow overcome the dimming of the senses quite miraculously.

Medical miracles and fashionable favours
More obviously, aids to mobility are even more life-enhancing. Where once upon a time getting from A to B would have been problematic mobility scooters and the medical marvel of hip and knee replacement surgery have given our generation a whole new lease of life.

If that sounds a bit drastic, there are plenty of plus points that needn’t be quite so dramatic. For example, have you noticed how specs are now in vogue? And if you’re a man, what about beards? The former may come as a necessity to some – although there are always contact lenses and laser eye surgery options – but they are, as they say, unmistakably on trend currently. As for beards, they may once have been a symbol for maturity, but a well-tended goatee is now a sign of someone vibrantly abreast of the latest fashion. And, more to the point, it can cover a multitude of age-revealing sins.

A working wind-down
And what of those who are still gainfully employed? The quite dramatic turnaround in the world of work in recent years means, more than ever, that there are opportunities to work remotely and on a freelance basis that simply did not exist a few years ago. It means that anyone with the requisite skills, knowledge or experience can work from wherever in the world they choose and devote as much or as little energy to that effort as they need.

It perhaps goes without saying that such a degree of flexibility offers tremendous advantages, and that is particularly true of anyone looking to scale down the amount of time and effort they devote to the working portion of their lives. Twenty first century maturity really does have a lot to commend it.