Yes, youth is highly overrated in our culture at the moment. A bit of age brings experience and tolerance which is great for interaction with others. But it also brings other delights, like feeling comfortable in our own skin. When I was 22 I married for the 1st time. I was young and thought that the only way I could be a successful wife would be to mimic my mother who had been doing everything the hard way for decades, hand washing, ironing socks, never working so having little social interaction. However I had to work. So I slaved when I got home, always housework, always ironing, always cooking.... How dull was I. How dull was my life.

I coped with that for 7 years. Now I'm married to a wonderful man who would never even consider ironing a sock and I have time to be me and do what I want with my life. That was a gift of maturity. And then there is hooping, a gift for my body that means I feel that I can do anything I could do when I was 22 and more.