During our youth, we humans tend to plow through life, unconcerned with our mortality and making choices based on what will make us happy. To be fair, most of us make responsible choices, especially regarding our education and job opportunities, but our focus remains on ourselves.
By middle age, we cannot (and should not) ignore the needs of our spouse and children but we remain in the "what mode." What should we do to ensure our family's welfare? What can be said or done to influence the behavior and success of our children? What career and financial choices will be most beneficial in the long run?
Once we are older, the whats have been responded to and the consequences are known. More conscious of our mortality, we begin to ponder the whys of our life and have time to reflect on how it unfolded. During that process, some regrets arise but, more importantly, we come to grips with who we are and why we made the choices that we did. Such a review is enlightening and is at the heart of the wisdom that comes with age; whether that wisdom can be used to influence those in the "what stage" of their life is another matter.
