雖已暮年，壯心不已

After the fireworks come the resolutions. The New Year is that time in our lives when we think about fresh horizons and greener pastures. But those who might be tempted to state that change is a young persons game need to think again. With our maturing but increasingly healthy population， age could no longer be the thing that stops us trying out something new.

Take Srikumar Sen， a former boxing 3）correspondent who， at the age of 81， has published his first work of fiction， a novel that has already won a literary award. Buoyed by the success of his 4）debut， he has now at work on his second book.

Dame Joan Bakewell， the previous governments voice for elder people and a critic of societys lack of imagination when it comes to the countrys ageing population， says retirement is no longer about finding a hobby to keep you 5）occupied. It is an opportunity to grab a 6）new lease of life.“Its enormously 7）reinvigorating to find a new interest or activity as you grow older，” she says. “It stops you slowing down and 8）getting stuck in a routine. It keeps people young and it opens up new friendships， gives people skills they perhaps didnt know they had.” She adds： “Things are much more 9）flexible and theyve got to get more so. Our country has got to 10）harness the skills of older people. Employers have got to get more flexible， use the skills that are there and keep old people young.”

History is 11）smattered with figures who made a significant career change， or had a breakthrough moment in their life， at an age when society traditionally expected them to be 12）winding down.

13）Peter Mark Roget could have 14）rested on the 15）laurels of a respectable scientific career when he was somewhat 16）reluctantly forced to retire from the Royal Society. Instead he 17）plunged into a project that he had spent his life thinking about but never had time to complete—the result of which was the first edition of the 18）thesaurus bearing his name.

放完煙火之后，就到了下定決心的時刻。新年是我們?nèi)松兴伎纪卣剐乱曇昂烷_拓更廣闊天地的時刻。但是那些傾向于認(rèn)為改變是年輕人游戲的人，需要重新再想一想。隨著社會成熟發(fā)展，人口健康日益提升，年齡不應(yīng)再是阻止我們嘗試新事物的因素。

以斯里庫馬·森——一名前拳擊通訊記者為例， 81歲的他出版了自己的第一部小說著作，并且已經(jīng)贏得一項文學(xué)獎項。以他處女作的成功為支撐，他正在致力于創(chuàng)作他的第二部作品。

瓊·貝克維爾夫人是前任政府的老人福利主管，她經(jīng)常指責(zé)社會在處理人口老齡化問題上缺乏想象力，她說，退休不再只是為了找到一個愛好，從而讓自己保持忙碌狀態(tài)，而是獲得一次新生的機會?！半S著年齡的增長，找到新的愛好或是活動是件非常振奮人心的事情，”她說道?！斑@么做會避免你停滯不前或是陷入平淡無奇的日子，使人們保持年輕的心態(tài)，為我們締造結(jié)交新朋友的機會，賦予大家或許自身都未曾察覺的技能?！彼a充說道：“情況已經(jīng)比以前更靈活了，也必須要更加靈活多變。我們國家必須充分利用老年人的技能。雇主們必須要學(xué)會變通，充分利用現(xiàn)有技術(shù)，使老年人保持年輕狀態(tài)?！?/p>

歷史上并不乏人物例子，他們在社會傳統(tǒng)認(rèn)為該安享晚年之際才來做出重大職業(yè)變換或為生命創(chuàng)造突破。

彼得·馬可·羅熱帶著幾分不情愿從英國皇家學(xué)院退休后，本來可以在受人尊敬的科學(xué)事業(yè)桂冠下榮享晚年。但是他投身于他一生都盤旋腦海卻從未有時間去實現(xiàn)的事情——結(jié)果他出版了自己的第一版匯編詞典。

Creativity is inevitably something that can flourish in later years. Anna Moses， who is better known as “19）Grandma Moses”， was one of North Americas most celebrated 20th-century artists. But she only picked up a paintbrush at the age of 76.

20）Fast-forward five decades and a new generation of Grandma Moses are flourishing. Pop into one of the pubs on the London comedy circuit and you might come across 21）Julie Kertesz who—in her mid-70s—took up comedy. In a newspaper interview earlier this year she said： “It was frightening at the beginning， but I decided I had to try something new every time. I have only been 22）heckled once.”

Such examples might sound like exceptions to the rule but， given Britains changing 23）demographics， successful 24）nonagenarians will become increasingly common.

創(chuàng)造力之花無疑是能夠在晚年綻放的。安娜·摩西，也就是人們所熟知的“摩西奶奶”，是北美20世紀(jì)最著名的藝術(shù)家之一。但是她到了76歲高齡才開始拿起畫筆作畫。

快進到50年后的現(xiàn)在，新一代的摩西奶奶到處可見。隨意地走進倫敦喜劇團任一間酒吧里，你可能會遇見朱莉·凱爾泰斯——在70歲中旬的年紀(jì)——她開始從事喜劇工作。在今年早些時候的報紙采訪中，她說道：“一開始覺得很恐懼，但是每次我都決定自己必須要嘗試新事物。遇到喝倒彩刁難的也就只有一次而已?！?/p>

這樣的例子或許聽起來就像特例，但是，考慮到英國變化的人口數(shù)據(jù)統(tǒng)計，九十多歲高齡的成功人士將會變得日益普遍。

According to the latest 25）census figures a total of 9.2 million people across England and Wales are over the age of 65， an increase of more than 10 percent in the past decade. The geographical spread of retirement is also more varied. Ten years ago only a small number of areas had more than a fifth of the population aged over 65. Today， the entire South-west of England， almost all of Wales， half of 26）East Anglia and the borders of Northern England all have at least a fifth of the population aged over 65. The number of people living to see their 100th birthday， meanwhile， is expected rise 27）eightfold to more than 100，000 over the next 25 years.

Given these population trends Britain can either consign its ageing population to the backstage of life or tap into its talent. Those nearing retirement are already being 28）proactive. A poll by 29）Learn Direct found that 46 percent of 50-pluses in the UK felt they are not too old to learn a new career or fulfill lifetime job goals. So for those thinking theyre too old to make a lifechanging New Years resolution， remember， there is no time like the present.

據(jù)最新的調(diào)查統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)顯示，英格蘭和威爾士一共有920萬人超過65歲，比過去十年增長了超過10%。退休人員的地理分布也更加多樣化。10年前，只有少數(shù)的地區(qū)有超過五分之一的人口年齡高于65歲。如今，英格蘭整個西南部、還有幾乎整個威爾士、二分之一的東安格利亞和英格蘭北部邊界都至少有五分之一的人口年齡超過65歲。活到100歲生日的人數(shù)，與此同時，在未來25年，預(yù)期也將上升八倍，超過10萬人。

考慮到人口變化趨勢，英國可以選擇將老人們從生命舞臺往后挪，或者是挖掘老齡化人口的潛能。那些將要退休的人已經(jīng)開始主動起來?！爸苯訉W(xué)習(xí)”的調(diào)查投票發(fā)現(xiàn)，英國五十歲以上的人口中有46%覺得自己開創(chuàng)新事業(yè)或?qū)崿F(xiàn)終身事業(yè)目標(biāo)為時未晚。所以，對于那些覺得立下改變?nèi)松男履隂Q心為時已晚的人們，請謹(jǐn)記，現(xiàn)在就是最好的時光。