July 23....Age 28

Today is my birthday. I'm 28 years old. As they say, you're only as old as you feel. I don't feel like I'm 28. Age has been almost completely irrelevant to me. As I was saying to someone last night, for most of my primary education, I was young. Having a summer birthday can sometimes do that to you. So I ended up at the low end of my age bracket, and was one of the last to get my driver's license.

Now I'm old, relative to my classmates. I'm doing doctoral study, and most of my academic contemporaries are undergraduates and masters candidates. That makes me the old man on the totem pole. I don't mind that, though. Age isn't a measure of someone's value, according to my way of thinking.

And in some ways, I'm quite young. Hopelessly naive and trusting. I am perennially surprised by bad behavior. Foolishly optimistic. Eternally hopeful. Forgiving.

So, really, my age is nothing more than a signpost. It lets me know where I am. But on its own, a sign doesn't do anything. It doesn't show me where to go. I don't plan my trips from one signpost to another.

Since I'm immersed in writing a research paper, I'm glad to be typing about something other that Shostakovich. Here are some interesting links I found, relating to my birthday or my age.

A Unfortunate 28 Year-Old - I'll take "Natural Beauty" for $1,000.00

Bankrupt - 38,000 pounds is a lot of money.

Today in History - Ice Cream Cone Invented (Maybe)

I also found a site with a lot of mail-order Russian brides available. Many were 28 years old. I chose not to link it. The Internet is a scary place.

I've been having a lot of conversations about maturity lately. People wishing they had some, wishing OTHER people had more, etc. I'm starting to wonder if "maturity" isn't simply taking the time to consider how my actions might effect other people. I don't neccesarily need to change what I'm doing; just being able to put my mind in their circumstance seems to be enough.

Is maturity just a form of situational awareness?