12October2025 Diary
Today someone leaned in with a very serious look and said, Youre not that age any more.
I didnt quite catch what they meant, so I asked, Excuse me, what does that even mean?
They answered as if it were obvious: You know its no longer the season for bright shirts, raucous laughter, dancing, singing loudly and carefree joy, like it used to be. Now youre supposed to be more modest, calmer, grownup.
I kept my mouth shutnot out of offense, but because I was amazed at how easily people set limits where none exist. Then I smiled, looked deep inside myself and said calmly, Ive never read a book that tells you exactly when you must stop being yourself.
Who decides when a man is no longer allowed to laugh until hes in tears? Who decides at what age a red tie or a favourite song at full volume becomes inappropriate? The calendar may add years, but it does not strip us of our nature.
Ive already collected a good share of yearsyears filled with pain, experience and great happiness. Ive seen triumphs and setbacks, loss and fresh starts. I am now differentnot older, but more tranquil, deeper, wiser. Ive learned to value quiet, to listen to my own heart, and to understand that real youth lives not in a passport but in the eyes, in the ability to delight in small things and to stay astonished by the world.
I no longer need to prove my worth to anyone. I dont chase a younger look; I simply want to livetruly. I laugh when something amuses me. I dance when a beloved tune plays. I dress in what feels right to me, not in what belongs to a certain age. Most importantly, I allow myself to feel alive.
Because life isnt a stage where you perform a role dictated by age. Its a journey, each day a gift, and its a shame when people give up joy just because someone has said, Thats no longer appropriate for you.
It is appropriate for me.
It is appropriate for me to laugh when my spirit sings.
It is appropriate for me to wear a bold coat even though Im not twentyfive.
It is appropriate for me to be exactly who I am now, without excuses or fear.
There is no such thing as the wrong age. There is only a momentwarm, genuine, alive. If you feel a light inside, if your heart still wants to laugh and love, then you are alive.
Now is my time to live. Really, without limits, without shame, without should and must. No one has the right to decide when a man stops being himself.
I simply live. And every day I tell myself, Yes, this is my age. The best one yet.
