Maybe Paul has the answer after all: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child.” It’s not what you do but how you think that counts. Walking down the aisle is just one way to disown the carefree mindset of youth and embrace responsibility. If you can do those things, you can be broke, single, childless, unemployed and enjoy the odd game of Buckaroo, and yet be far more grown up than a high-achieving, bridge-playing, married father of three who always blames other people and leaves all the family’s major decisions to his wife.
Latest Shrink & Sage column in the FT Weekend Magazine (18/19 February)