There is only one difference between a long life and a good dinner: that, in the dinner, the sweets come last.

A meal saves the best for the end. A life tends to give it early, handing you strength and appetite and open time when you are least able to notice what you have. That is not a tragedy, but it is worth saying plainly rather than dressing up. The later course has its own flavours, though pretending they are the same flavours helps nobody.

Whatever stretch you are in, spend some of it knowingly. If the sweet part is now, do not save it for a later that arranges itself differently. If it is behind you, let it have been good without requiring the present to match it.