Maybe out of a fear of pain we change ourselves.
Do you think?
Maybe that’s not a bad thing though?
It could be a
Youth show less fears, out of inexperience. But perhaps as the years go by we simply care a little less about many physical feats.
Perhaps we should remember: To stay physical is to stay young.
And, of course, all the implications around pain (and suffering) are a much larger issue.
The courage of children and beasts is a function of innocence. We let our bodies go the way of our fears. A teen-aged boy, king of the world, will spend weeks in front of a mirror perfecting some difficult trick with a lighter, a muscle, a tennis ball, a coin. Why do we lose interest in physical mastery? If I feel like turning cartwheels—and I do—why don’t I learn to turn cartwheels, instead of regretting that I never learned as a child? We could all be aerialists like squirrels, divers like seals; we could be purely patient, perfectly fleet, walking on our hands even, if our living or stature required it. We can’t even sit straight, or support our weary heads.
-Annie Dillard, Pilgrim At Tinker Creek
