Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind

"... it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.”

I wonder how old Samuel Ullman was when he wrote that. I wonder who Samuel Ullman is.

Samuel Ullman (April 13, 1840 – March 21, 1924) was an American businessman, poet and humanitarian. He is best known today for his poem Youth...and particularly admired in Japan.

In fact, here is Ullman's poem Youth (Seishun) written in Japanese. It took me AGES.

The fact of the matter is that for the past few days I haven't been feeling at all youthful.Put it down to the icy weather and the painful ear. I haven't been able to - or rather I haven't FELT able to - get out and train for the marathon. It's too icy to exercise the horses. Lack of exercise makes me feel lethargic.

Yesterday, I took evasive action and changed the colour of my hair to match my ski-suit.

Bits of my hair, anyway. (Peter didn't notice)

Tonight I'm going circuit training even if it kills me. Which it might.

 This is the end of Ullman's poem:

 "In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the infinite, so long are you young.

When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may die young at eighty."

Useful Tip Of The Day: Wear your aerial on your head not in your heart. Better reception.