虽已暮年，壮心不已

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.

放完烟火之后，就到了下定决心的时刻。新年是我们人生中思考拓展新视野和开拓更广阔天地的时刻。但是那些倾向于认为改变是年轻人游戏的人，需要重新再想一想。随着社会成熟发展，人口健康日益提升，年龄不应再是阻止我们尝试新事物的因素。

以斯里库马·森——一名前拳击通讯记者为例， 81岁的他出版了自己的第一部小说著作，并且已经赢得一项文学奖项。以他处女作的成功为支撑，他正在致力于创作他的第二部作品。

琼·贝克维尔夫人是前任政府的老人福利主管，她经常指责社会在处理人口老龄化问题上缺乏想象力，她说，退休不再只是为了找到一个爱好，从而让自己保持忙碌状态，而是获得一次新生的机会。“随着年龄的增长，找到新的爱好或是活动是件非常振奋人心的事情，”她说道。“这么做会避免你停滞不前或是陷入平淡无奇的日子，使人们保持年轻的心态，为我们缔造结交新朋友的机会，赋予大家或许自身都未曾察觉的技能。”她补充说道：“情况已经比以前更灵活了，也必须要更加灵活多变。我们国家必须充分利用老年人的技能。雇主们必须要学会变通，充分利用现有技术，使老年人保持年轻状态。”

历史上并不乏人物例子，他们在社会传统认为该安享晚年之际才来做出重大职业变换或为生命创造突破。

彼得·马可·罗热带着几分不情愿从英国皇家学院退休后，本来可以在受人尊敬的科学事业桂冠下荣享晚年。但是他投身于他一生都盘旋脑海却从未有时间去实现的事情——结果他出版了自己的第一版汇编词典。

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.

创造力之花无疑是能够在晚年绽放的。安娜·摩西，也就是人们所熟知的“摩西奶奶”，是北美20世纪最著名的艺术家之一。但是她到了76岁高龄才开始拿起画笔作画。

快进到50年后的现在，新一代的摩西奶奶到处可见。随意地走进伦敦喜剧团任一间酒吧里，你可能会遇见朱莉·凯尔泰斯——在70岁中旬的年纪——她开始从事喜剧工作。在今年早些时候的报纸采访中，她说道：“一开始觉得很恐惧，但是每次我都决定自己必须要尝试新事物。遇到喝倒彩刁难的也就只有一次而已。”

这样的例子或许听起来就像特例，但是，考虑到英国变化的人口数据统计，九十多岁高龄的成功人士将会变得日益普遍。

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.

据最新的调查统计数据显示，英格兰和威尔士一共有920万人超过65岁，比过去十年增长了超过10%。退休人员的地理分布也更加多样化。10年前，只有少数的地区有超过五分之一的人口年龄高于65岁。如今，英格兰整个西南部、还有几乎整个威尔士、二分之一的东安格利亚和英格兰北部边界都至少有五分之一的人口年龄超过65岁。活到100岁生日的人数，与此同时，在未来25年，预期也将上升八倍，超过10万人。

考虑到人口变化趋势，英国可以选择将老人们从生命舞台往后挪，或者是挖掘老龄化人口的潜能。那些将要退休的人已经开始主动起来。“直接学习”的调查投票发现，英国五十岁以上的人口中有46%觉得自己开创新事业或实现终身事业目标为时未晚。所以，对于那些觉得立下改变人生的新年决心为时已晚的人们，请谨记，现在就是最好的时光。