I guess it all depends on how you approach it, my friend. I revel in birthdays. That is because I know that there is no way back, no way to change what is done, and the march is inevitable, and therefore positive. It is just the way. I realized a long time ago, shortly after having stared down the icy maw, that death is inevitable and what is important is how you live up until that moment. Sometimes I just have a giggling fit when I think of the people that lost money betting whether I would live to see age 30. The only time I ponder what is lost in the past, is when I am trying to chart the future. Often this is in the context of trying to help young ones not make some of the errors that I did. The other thing I do is use the mistakes of the past to correct the future. Example? Taking up the Uilleann Pipes at the age of 50 when others tried to tell me it was too late. Bollocks!! I have every intention of playing these baby's on stage as I approach my second carreer.

In short, my friend, live. And wait. All that was will be again. Never forget the great circle.........you will have the chance to change the things that happened to you. Maybe for a kid somewhere, maybe even for yourself.

All the best,

Mick