As Time Goes By

Do blokes get better with age? Depends on the bloke. I'm only even thinking about this because Joy commented that men often become more attractive as they age, the process often being a little kinder to us than to the fairer sex.
I'm forty now, and not I'n bad nick if you don't mind my saying so. Everything still works, although like a diesel engine it might take a few seconds longer to warm up. Once the engines running though. . . . .
I'm about the right weight, give or take a pound or two. Own hair and teeth, and I'm not found wandering the streets late at night with a vacant look on my face. I also appear to have, for the most part, avoided a mid life crisis. I have no desire to change cars, or wives, and on the whole life's ebb and flow becomes more appealing to me as I age. I'm so passionate about truth, about transparency, and about being real. These are qualities I aspire to and value in others. I wouldn't for a second want to turn the clock back, and I consider every lesson learned as valuable. To me life is remarkable, our very existence astonishing. There are some people I'd like to shake just to remind them of this, to tell them that we're on the stage now and cannot know when we take our final bow. The more I learn about the cosmos the more incredible it get's, and conversely the more I learn about humanity the more I realise how much we have obstructed our own advancement. But anyway, I was rambling on about middle age, which thus far has proven the most interesting period in my life. I'm keen about growing as a man, a husband, a father, and a freethinker. And if I wanted to leave one contribution to those around me it would be that I made them think about things they'd normally gloss over. That's the risk with knowing a person like me; I do tend to draw others into the deep waters of reflection, which I know isn't to everyone's taste. But hey, I'm not trying to win a popularity contest; just trying to figure a coherent path through this tangled old web we call life. Apologies if I muddy the waters sometimes. By all means take a step back if you don't like getting splashed.