PRISONER EXPRESS

Aging is essential to wisdom. It's providing us with an arsenal of truisms, lessons, and experiences. As a young man, it is admittedly the substance that I envy of a well-seasoned individual. If only I could instantly absorb all I need to know to resolve upcoming dilemmas.

With such a cache of aging, I sometimes fear youthful impulsiveness will cause me to exhaust my resources, making defeat inevitable. It seems the little experience I have isn't nearly enough to contend beyond the level of a novice. So I lay low for now, gathering data, and doing more listening than talking, remaining in the crowd, yet not of it.

There was a time when such isolation would have spelled disaster. But facets of this sub-society have changed. It's possible in this age, for one to stand alone firmly without much hindrance. So, my lack of years coincides with the freshness of a new era.

Such is the beauty of aging. It will forever affect everything with change. Sometimes its natural effect seems dormant when institutionalization palls life with routine, but that's an illusory perception. The phenomena of aging will not allow anything the luxury of staying the same. Walls age and eventually crumble. New orders become common, then old, and are finally replaced.

I hope that with time I will build onto my arsenal of wisdom and never misuse the proverbial weapons age arms me with.