The third stage of life .

Ideally speaking when you arrive at your third stage of life you are in your golden years.By now all your life's missions should be completed, children grown up, grandchildren up and running and you should be financially independent.Time should be spent nurturing one's health and maybe doing all the things you never got to do. Morning walks, leisurely breakfast, reading and listening to the news ,evening walks and dinners followed by coffee and maybe chatting with whoever is willing to listen to you and then off to bed to wake up when the sun rises. If this is the norm for the golden years it sounds a bit boorish to me and I think then life will be one long routine and one would become senile sooner than later.If after 40 years of challenges, a hectic lifestyle and all the time cracking our heads we will certainly find it challenging to suddenly become complacent and feeling quite useless.That is why its always good to think outside the box and challenge existing paradigms.Me ? I am still in the second stage of life working nearly 8 hours a day, driving through KL's crazy traffic jams and finding things to do at work.Sometimes , I would deliberately do things which I am told I cannot or should not do like walking up 4 or 5 floors every day, learn about computers and play my golf and hey you suddenly discover that you can still do it despite your age and maybe the myth that age determines what you can do is just a myth.I have come across people who are younger than me who cannot drive long distances.I can still happily drive up and down Ipoh and the surrounding areas of Kl for my golf.Why cannot? its all in the mind actually ! For me Although more than 70 I tell myself that I am at worst at the tail end of the second stage of life and I believe that I will continue doing what I'm doing till I no longer can and I just wonder when that will be.No such thing as early morning walks , sitting on the rocking chair, idle conversation ,coffee and tea time.The productive and self satisfying lifestyle which I am going through at this stage is still so intriguing and I will certainly not want to give it up for " the golden years " lifestyle.Although at times we cant run away from body aches, blurred vision and some wishful thinking.