…need or would like to have. But before we go any further I wish to make it clear that this is not a mid-life crisis; like many other things in my life the inevitability of a mid-life crisis is planned for the Summer of 2014 when I’ll be dressed in leathers, on a Harley, my son sitting behind me riding towards the West coast of the US.

The reason I got thinking about the great things that more advanced age brings is that I have been catching myself feeling really fearful of aging. Not surprising, really! Looking at the world we live in, we are surrounded by images glorifying the rigour, freshness and innocence of youth. On the walls in my gym – great looking, slim young people on top of mountains; on placards – young people with lovely smiles; at the cinema…oh well, what is on screen is an entirely different matter altogether. Or is it?