If we shift as we age toward appreciating everyday pleasures and relationships rather than toward achieving, having, and getting, and if we find this more fulfilling, then why do we take so long to do it? Why do we wait until we're old? The common view was that these lessons are hard to learn. Living is a kind of skill. The calm and wisdom of old age are achieved over time.
[...]What if the change in needs and desires has nothing to do with age per se? Suppose it merely has to do with perspective - your personal sense of how finite your time in this world is.
