CONSOLATIONS OF MIDDLEAGE.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 126, 29 May 1915, Page 10

CONSOLATIONS OF MIDDLEAGE.

In a letter to T.P.s Weekly on "Middle Age," a thoughtful man remarks :—: — " The cases with which I have come into contact, in which the approach of middle.-age has been anticipated with fear, are so rare as to be classed with the distinctly abnormal. " Human nature is prone to excess. The art of living is intricate and never thoroughly mastered, for that reason one too often comes across pathetic instances where, owing to misuse, certain of life's forces have attained their zenith and already approach decline, whilst other forces are yet gathering strength. Such condition, naturally bnnga discord into what would otherwise be a harmonious whole, but, who among us would be unsportsmanlike enough to chafe at the natural consequence of our own excesses? " It is my opinion that to the life that has been lived fairly healthily middleage ushers itself in majestically, its advent is received rather in tho light of a well-timed blessing, so excellently well do aspiration and power of attainment appear to be harnessed. ' When all forces have reached adult estate — i.e., middle-age — selection becomes epicurean, one enjoj'3 deeply, maybe more soberly. The cigarette of one's choice is sweeter^ one is conscious - that the armchair is more cosily comfortable and becomes increasingly often a very suitable place from which to view the pageant of roseate youth leaping recklessly, dancing riotously, alive with eagerness to attain. With amused understanding middle-age watchea apart, glad to be, in a measure, out of the rough and tumble. Such, at any rate, has been my interpretation of contemporary j middle-aged attitude towards life. I "If any ono stage of life calls for ! sympathy more than another, I would j say it is that vhase in a woman's development which comes between the age • of twenty-five and thirty, when life's I conventional theories, accepted duties, and ideals begin to emerge from the crucible of experience with different valuations,"