It's Never Too Late

You’re not too old to learn something new.

Unless you plan to die in 10 years, there’s still plenty of time to gain a notable level of proficiency. Perhaps you won’t be leaping five feet into the air or out-competing some young competitor, but the benefits for your mind and body actually increase over time. The only barrier between learning something when you’re 25 and 65 is the choice to do so.

It’s not too late to start over.

It can be painful to let go of all the investment that we’ve made in a particular path of learning. What if you discover that you’re wrong? Or that there’s a better way? You are more than what you already know and what you already have. The more that you can put your trust in your capacity to learn, change, and grow, the less the status quo will own you.

You are in a better place now than you were before.

I have wished I could start over on a myriad of occasions. I have thought about cutting my losses and just giving up more than I can count. Sometimes it seems that it would all be better if I could only go back to the beginning--a clean slate. Then I look at it from another perspective: If someone offered me all of the knowledge and experience I have now, as a starting point, I’d think it was a great deal. The thing I don’t need right now is the baggage and the judgment.

Now is your only starting point. As scarce as it can sometimes seem, time is the one resource we can truly count on.

Devon Boorman is the Co-Founder and Director of Academie Duello Centre for Swordplay, which has been active in Vancouver, Canada since 2004. Devon’s expertise centres on the Italian swordplay tradition including the arts of the Renaissance Italian rapier, sidesword, and longsword, as well as knife and unarmed techniques.
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