It’s all in the attitude

When it comes to ageing, opinions vary, but our readers share a similar view. They feel that as we age, things change, but our outlook towards life is what keeps us young

Being older gives us courage to accomplish our dreams and adds responsibility. Actually age is nothing but a number. If we have the courage and a healthy mind, we can overtake the age. We have examples of many people who get victory against age by maintaining their health. So if we have a healthy mind and body, then it does not matter how old we are. When we are younger like below 30, we don’t feel old, but crossing 30 our mind plays the trick.

— Kshitiz Paudel

Birthdays are always exciting for me. If I am asked how I feel growing a year older, my answer would be, ‘Happy Birthday to Me’, because  growing old is inevitable. For me, age is always a number that is being added every year to my life. There is an old saying that we are only as old as we feel. I have always believed that to be young at heart is a feeling, reflecting  my passion, my lust for life. As George Bernard Shaw said, ‘We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing’ — growing up does not matter to have fun. I feel doing the things like laughing at silly and childish jokes, flying a kite on terrace, spending the whole day at a playground and getting dirty, sweaty and stinky. It really doesn’t matter how old one is. It is all about the attitude.

— Shubham Agrawal, Kolkata, India

When we are young, birthday is the only date on the calendar that matters the most. It’s an important day when another year is added to our healthy wonderful existence. Our parents feel proud of our simple achievements in those growing years and praise us with expensive gifts which most of us get only on this special day.

After celebrating several birthdays we realise that birthday is not a big occasion rather a mere increase in our age. And we also start realising that gifts and parties that we celebrate as a child are the generosity of our parents who pay the hefty bills. Some adults still enjoy their birthdays because they are thankful for God’s generosity for a healthy life.

With age we become more mature and understand the real world that we used to get mesmerised with. Even if we try not to worry about our growing age there are small nagging feelings that it is increasing without our notice. We might only regard our age as number but we know that it’s increasing. And with increase in our age, our responsibly also increases. We have to take the responsibility of our parents and our own families. The gifts which we used to enjoy is replaced by the gifts we buy for our children. And we no longer enjoy our birthdays because we know it’s the day when we  pay a hefty bill.

— Anonymous

Does age really matter? I think it does — in our appearance, job, sometimes in our relationship or in our choice. But it doesn’t matter in our bravery, ability, strength and of course in our sixth sense. I have seen many examples like when an eight-year-old boy is talking sincerely and an 80-year-old is talking nonsense like our politicians. Recently I saw the news on TV that school students were on the road to protest the indefinite agitation. They are asking for no strike because it’s affecting their education. They started reading books in the middle of the road as a symbolic method to protest against agitators. So age does not really matter, what matters is when we can’t see the truth of our hearts.

— Anonymous

I don’t like to celebrate birthdays because there is no point in celebrating it other than having an excuse to party and have fun. Although some people argue that birthdays are celebrations of you still being alive and looking forward to many more  years to come, but I want to remind that one is getting a year older, which many do not wish for.

According to a new research, age is nothing but a number, you’re only as old as you let yourself feel. Being old is simply a state of mind and enjoying life can keep you young. Hence, be happy and enjoy your life.

— Bidyaaz, Kathmandu

Most of us celebrate our birthdays. Every birthday is exciting to the one who celebrates it. Also, it is exciting to the one who does not celebrate. Birthday reminds us that we are grown up, we are a year older. Every year, on our birthdays, we often plan on doing something innovative. Our increasing age makes us mature and responsible. Age is not just a number, it’s a reminder.

Firstly, our increasing age enhances our responsibilities. In addition, it motivates us to bring changes within us like eradicating or minimising our misdeeds.

Secondly, I don’t concur that as I age, everything else changes. Things do not change but my way of viewing it may differ. For instance, a boy aged five sees Rs 50 as a huge amount but an adult takes the same amount as meagre.

Being old is a natural phenomenon. It’s not the state of mind, it’s a biological and natural process. Humans get older and their minds get old too. But the way of thinking and witnessing the world doesn’t get older. It solely depends upon the person concerned.

— Anonymous

Celebrating birthdays is one of the wonderful events in very person’s life, getting old is more about gaining lots of sweet and bitter experiences of life. Recently I celebrated my birthday with lots of bad fortune of our country. Honestly, I feel Nepali people never get a chance to celebrate the occasion with joy because natural disasters, crime, hunger, poverty, unstable political issues, strikes, corruption et cetera have an adverse impact.

— Mathura Adhikari, Banepa

People celebrate their birthdays with joy — gifts, wishes and cakes are popular on this day. Yes, we turn a year older every birthday but it does not mean that our ideas, values and beliefs will also become old.

To an extent, age is considered a number, but in my opinion, age is not just a numerical value but more than that. I believe that age is a question of mind over matter. If we do not mind, it does not matter.

Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. I believe that we grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but giving up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. I still see a lot of strength in my grandfather who is 68 years old. So, being old is not just a state of mind but the state of action.

— Subarna Lamsal

Obviously, every birthday is exciting. Every person wants to celebrate this day with lots of joy and happiness. But it also means you will become a year older. Age is not merely a number. With our age everything else like our appearance, attitude, beliefs, thinking, behaviour change. Being old is not only a state of mind, it is the state of our changing life along with the change in age. From childhood to our old age, our life is renewed with new thoughts and new thinking. Birthday should not be thought as a day of losing a year of life rather it must be believed as a day of gaining new opportunities in our life and this day must be celebrated with lots of fun.

— Shilpi Agrawal, Kalaiya -5

Growing old is a natural process. It does not hinder our happiness and our interests. We basically think that every year we are growing old and our life is shortening. We lose our hopes and give up our interest as we think that we are getting older, physically weak and are not interested in the things that once we loved. But what I personally feel is that the number added every year to our life doesn’t define our age. It’s all about the state of mind which makes us older. We are always young enough to cherish the moments of our life. No age can hold you back from getting true happiness and enjoying life. So, live your life and forget age because at the end it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s the life in your years.

— Anonymous

I feel really happy when my age increases every year. Increasing age means increasing the level of maturity, knowledge, positive perception towards person, events, objects et cetera, and the way of talking to people becomes sincere. We become more critical of the subject matter. If people feel old then decrease in physical and mental exercise, decrease in socialising lead to poor health. As a result we acquire a bad quality of life.

In place of feeling older on birthday, think that we are becoming mature. If Narendra Modi would feel old then he would not have been able to lead India like he is doing now. Had our Prime Minister Sushil Koirala, who is 76 years old, felt old then today he would not have been  able to hold his position.

— Anonymous

Yes, I agree that every birthday is exciting. But we also know that we are becoming older. I think age is merely a number, but being old is a state of mind too. When we were young our dream regarding any special occasion mainly our birthday used to be a special day as we received lots of love, care, and gifts. But when time passes and we grow older our interests also diminishes. Our childish behaviour vanishes. This is because of our state of mind as we feel awkward to celebrate our birthday in the same like in our childhood.

— Sangita Mijar, Shantinagar

It’s obvious that you experience physical and mental changes with ageing process. You can’t stop this natural process. However, you can avoid the feeling that you are getting older. A lot of people think they can’t learn new things because they are old but that isn’t 100 per cent true. Memory masters say that you lose interest and eagerness with the time which makes you think that you are incapable. So, try to keep alive the child inside you and you will be amazed at your potential. Your curiosity can beat your age.

— Anonymous

No, age is not only a number. It’s more than a number because it does affect the person. As far as, mental health is concerned age matters, how I view a person doesn’t matter much though. Things change all the time, and people change, the more they change the more they learn. The body changes and things work differently as you get older, but a person’s attitude can still be young.

— Pawan Ram Lamichhane

Every year, there is a great day in our life which becomes memorable and we call this day our birthday. This day is fabulous as this is the day when we first stepped in the world. We delightfully celebrate this day but along with it comes our ageing. This day decreases our life span by one year. But it’s not  true that as we age, everything else changes. Being old is only a state of mind as the love, delight and passion for the life remains the same. Ageing also brings some disagreements, we feel uncomfortable to adjust to everything. But that does not mean we will stop enjoying our lives. No one knows the future so there is no reason to worry.

— Muskan Sah, Birgunj

Birthdays are an exciting part of one’s life. Age is just like counting 1, 2, 3, 4... up to your death. As far I think, only our height and weight changes with our growing age. Except that nothing changes, our parents’ love remains the same. Being old depends on our attitude and mentality. If a person sees himself as an old then he will find himself old.

— Riya Shrestha, Duhabi-3, Sunsari, Nepal

Celebrating birthday is mind blowing. We get a year older, however, we also get a year mature. It is said, “We do not stop dreaming because we grow old; we grow old because we stop dreaming.”  Age is just a number; it depends on what we do according to our age. My birthday is also coming soon but I am excited that I am stepping towards maturity rather than worrying about my age.

Nothing can stop us to progress. Age is not a hindrance if someone is enthusiastic in doing something. It is the state of mind that decides about one’s life. So, in my opinion, age is merely a number.

— Asmita Rajopadhyaya

In my book, age is not merely a number. As we age everything else changes. As we grow older, our shoulders carry different responsibilities. The way we enjoy our birthday in the childhood differs from the way we feel in our adulthood. It does not mean that we lose the charm of birthday as we age. Human beings go through different phases of life, along with different stages, we should play different roles in our lives. As age changes, perspectives towards life changes and our surroundings compel us to be responsible and dutiful towards our life and our family as well. Birthday is exciting as it brings our loved ones to you and you get different presents, which indeed adds to the happiness.

— Bhawana Bhandari, Butwal

Every day is special and each day has its own value. The collection of such days brings a special day in each year that remarks our existence on earth which we simply call as birthday. We suffer from lots of ups and downs throughout the year but we celebrate the birthday with  happiness and expectations of making next year remarkable. Celebrating birthday doesn’t mean that we are one year old but it represents we are experienced 365 days in our life. This day is a symbol of maturity and responsibility. Even children make resolution on this day that makes them responsible people. We can proceed ahead realising the past events which are truly our experiences.

— Asit Baral, Pokhara-7, Masbar

I am reluctant to agree that age is everything and ageing changes everything else. As birthday comes once a year (expect for people who were born on February 29), it serves as timely reminder of our past of how much progress we made in a year. It is also a day which encourages us to instigate our new works with blessing from our well wishers.

In fact, there is no relationship between ageing and elation because happiness and anguish is just repercussion of our action. In other words, old people are not less happy than young people. Therefore age is simply a number, which keeps on increasing, and ends without letting us know.

— Kunal Yadav , Saptari

When someone becomes a year older, he/she not only adds a unit digit in his age but he goes through a noticeable physical, mental and social change or more precisely, development. As soon as a person becomes older, he notices different changes in his body. He becomes more conscious and astute due to the mental changes. Also, the society’s view towards him changes. His parents and colleagues start to think of him as more sophisticated and grown up and he himself begins to care more about his social and personal relationships.

— Rahul Upadhyay, Birgunj

Sometimes many things we count actually don’t count but the things we don’t count really counts! The celebration is so prime that the addition of numbers in our age is not counted. Age has so much to do with our perception about how deeper you can analyse a particular situation and how to draw a moralistic and fair conclusion. For instance, when we were five or seven years old, cleaning our rooms, washing our clothes were supposed to be done by our mothers but now that we are in our teens these become our responsibility.

There are several other things that change like limited friends, study pressure, career goals and much more. Thus, age is not  merely a number but a sense of amenability.

— Anonymous

It is a scientific fact that our body and mind gets worn out with passing time. However, if we were able to maintain a balanced diet, manage daily routine on time and do regular exercise then longevity of our strength can last a little longer. Getting old means getting tired easily than usual and losing memory power. I think the best part of being old is making less mistakes as you know we get matured as we age.

Ageing is a natural phenomenon, so changes do take place depending upon how you take care of yourself. For example, our prime minister Sushil Koirala is still working despite of old age. In a way we can say being old is a state of mind.

— Pratibha Bhandari

Change is inevitable. In my opinion, ageing transforms everything. In fact, the person who I was yesterday is not the same today because life is full of transformation and alteration. Life throws such circumstances and situations on one’s fate that coping with them requires change. Old age is related to lack of strength, zeal, stamina and even now there exists a universal situation where old people get retired from their jobs and live on pension because they have no strength left to work hard. Who says age is just a number and just a state of mind? How can anyone with wrinkles, weakness and diseases feel just as young as a teenager? Hence, it is undeniable that age matters a lot.

— Sanskriti Lamsal

Of course, every birthday is exciting. Birthday of a person comes once in a year so it must be enjoyed with great party and happiness along with friends. Since we have to die one day, it is not good to think on our birthday that one year is deducted from our life. Instead we must make some wonderful and cheerful memories, which we cannot forget in our whole life. We must do our duties along with enjoying life.

— Ravikant Yadav, Majhariya-06,Bara

A birthday is just another day where you go to work and people give you love. Age is just a state of mind, and you are as old as you think you are. You have to count your blessings and be happy. Every birthday is existing, but it also means you will become a year older. Yes, I feel that as age everything changes. Age really matters it changes our mind and everything else. We can’t celebrate birthday every year in the same way because we grow up and don’t remain the same. But by thinking it seriously we come to know the our life has being decreased by one year, so age is just not a number, it is the taken as a time period to learn and achieve something in life.

— Hari Ohm Bhandari, Kupondole, Lalitpur

Birthday does not mean adding years to life but it is associated with changes. Being a doctor and being aware about the different anatomic and physiologic changes that occur in our body, I can’t say that it is only the state of mind. For example, you cannot do or your body cannot tolerate the things that you were previously able to. Nevertheless, always remain young at heart and celebrate your birthday.

— Dr Inclub Dhungana, Pokhara

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

We are often advised to have a positive attitude so that when we are swamped by difficulties, it will be helpful for us to overcome the same. Do you agree that it is always beneficial to have a positive attitude? How difficult or easy is it to maintain a positive attitude in such times? Illustrate with an example from your life.

­Send your replies in not more than 200 words by Friday, September 4 by 2:00 pm to Features, The Himalayan Times, e-mail: features@thehimalayantimes.com