Age & Time

Yesterday on The Dilbert Blog, Scott Adams, the author of the Dilbert comics, had this post. It's pretty funny, as his blog usually is, so I encourage you to read this one. (Um, not all of it is family-friendly fare, though, like his most recent post. Heh. Just a caution.)

In that post he asks, "What is your permanent age?" Like, if you're always complaining about youth today and the downfall of society, you might be a 60 year old. Sure, you may have only been alive for 20 years now but you'll grow into your permanent age eventually, like kids grow into shoes. Or if you're always looking for next fun thing to do and never mind the deadlines, maybe your permanent age is around 12.

Me, I peg my permanent age at around 25. I'm much too serious about some things but I'm way too infantile about other things. I'm the guy that likes comic books, video games and playing with my X-Men action figures with my Little Brother. I like to jump turnstiles in front of stores and I'm always tapping or bouncing around to some tune in my head. I love sports and I still behave like an active young person. 25 is young enough to fit the bill, the right age to permit a single guy to have fun without any attachments.

25 is also an ideal age to have been in the workforce for a few years. 25 works for a guy that got married young and had a few kids already. (Granted, that's not actually me but that's always been in my head.) It allows enough time for some experience and maturity, to be at the point of wanting to help others grow a bit more. I often think and act like I'm that kind of 25 year old. So because of that dichotomy, I peg myself somewhere in the mid-twenties, when it's socially acceptable to be on both ends of that spectrum.

In the second half of that same blog post, Scott asks if we're the type of people that live in the past, in the present or in the future. I'm definitely a present-time kind of guy. I let others take care of the visionary stuff. As for the past, I try to deal with things and then move on. I'm entirely focused on practical life, the next step, today's work. Show me real life, right here, right now.

When I get caught up in thinking about my future, as has happened recently, I default to action. I hang out with friends, I go to movies, I get involved with new activities. I keep my eyes on the present if I get too many tears in looking at the future. Keep moving, don't let the past drag me down or the future hold me up.

So that's me. Anyone else? What's your permanent age, and what "tense" do you live in?