What new enlightenment awaits a man in the middle of his sixth decade?
These days I find that I’m in a continual process of trying to come to terms with everything that I used to think I knew. In my 20s I thought I knew exactly how the world worked. And in my 30s, I had to rethink it. Forties, same rethink all over again — as in, man, was I wronnng. Now I realize I was never right. There are things that you have to accept about yourself — limitations, old instincts and patterns — which is a very, very liberating kind of revelation. But you can’t teach that or give it to someone. We all just have to get there. What are the benefits of owning your mistakes? I don’t think you learn that much from being right. Or from catching a break. I doubt myself on a regular basis. I now enjoy the language caveat: “I’ll tell you what I think, but I’m prepared to be wrong.” And being wrong is such a good icebreaker, too: “I was wrong about so many things.…” Philosophically, karma-wise, you can say that your mistakes are part of your path in life or exactly what you’re sup
