THE MIDDLE YEARS

Taranaki Daily News, 3 January 1930, Page 11

THE MIDDLE YEARS

THEMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY

From time immemorial poets have, sung, and preachers and philosophers have discoursed, regarding the halycon days of youth, with their ideals and enthusiasm, and their peculiar pitfalls and temptations. Old age, too, has received its duo homage from the poet's lyre and the writer’s pen—old age with its gently westering breezes and its sunset glow. But what shall we say about that vast tableland of life lying in between, which we term. “the middle years?” Have these been adequately dealt with? Let us see if something further cannot be said, and ascertain if this period cannot also be garbed with romance and enthusiasm, and all the high and stimulating qualities which go to make life far-reaching. . Let us be somewhat elastic in defining the boundaries of the period we purpose reviewing, and consider it as stretching from, say, the age of forty-five to that of sixty-five. By the forties the fires of youth have somewhat dulled, and the refreshing afternoon breezes are not as yet. Early ideals have lost their lustre, and disillusionment to some extent has set in. The merciless noonday sun of work, business, established routine, and public opinion is beating down fiercely, and there is all too little time for retreating to the shady nooks of life and there finding that refreshment of mind and spirit so absolutely necessary in these days. Nevertheless it is a time of tremendous opportunity. The heroes of life are not all in the morning of their days, nor yet in the afternoon and evening of life. Those so-called drab, prosaic, middle years are literally tingling with opportunity, and all honour to the man who continues to play the game right through this period. After all, it is not the man in the heyday of youth who most needs the sympathy and support of his fellows. Many a man has come valiantly and successfully through the turbulent period of youth and manhood, and has gone well on in the pathway of the middle years, when lo! something, snaps; he breaks down under the strain, the continuous and incessant fray proving too much for him, and he does something foolish—it may be something absolutely wrong —in his anxiety to take a shortcut to easier conditions.

But is this so appallingly suddgn as it would appear? Tho psychologists tell us that it is but the culmination of a long series of thought-wave and impressions, moving along in a given direction. Tragic, however, as such a calamity undoubtedly is, it need not bo the end of things for the individual. Tho man who has gone-down to defeat in the Valley of Despair, and when ho has begun again to climb the remaining hills of life, with a reborn and deeper purpose in his heart, such a one may be acclaimed a real hero. For it is no small matter (nay, it requires resource and courage of tho very highest order) to pick up the oars again, with the knowledge that lor a time, at least, it means pulling against the tide—the tide of self-righteousness and acrimonious criticism, so often manifested towards him at such a time. When such a man successfully stages a “come-back,” methinks tho angels look down smilingly. It is a fact, too, abundantly proven in everyday life, that the man who has triumphed over defeat in this way is often of "more real service to his fellowmen than is tho man who has always trod the beaten trails, thereby escaping some of the more scorching fires of°temptation, in one form or another..

There are, of course, numerous ways m which a man in the midtime of his years may make what is called a “break,” but the same underlying principles apply. The business “break,” however, is probably the one which tries the joints of armour most severely at this particular, period of life. The middle years are virtually the battle-ground of the individual life; and surely it will be conceded, that in this connection there are many unsung heroes who would scorn any adulation, but who nevertheless are measuring to the full. This period of life may well be in-, vested with a new interest. From the standpoint of service these are the most valuable years, and certainly ought to be the most productive. Standing midway 'between the morning and evening of life, the period possesses the key of control, may in fact be a veritable Gibraltar—and consequently should be made impregnable by all the upbuilding and strengthening of character which religion and psychology afford. These years need not be colourless and uninteresting —far from it. The buoyancy and light of tho preceding years may be so projected that life may advance in a more or less rhythmic measure until the western slope is reached, when the pace must necessarily be slower, and more suggestive of reflection.

May this, then, be- a plea for a deeper sympathy and a more generous consideration being extended to “those middle years,” with their peculiar difficulties and problems, but also, joy to relate, their special and unrivalled opportunities for sacrifice, courage, and the very highest type of service. Thank God there is always a land of beyond, " For those who are true to th© 'tra.il,, A vision to see* a beckoning 'phak| ■ •- i zA/fairness that never wHll : fdili-“ Les V . v-'i-' ’>b *