Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn our youth. We say farewell to the pimples, high school and university drama and the days when our boobs didn’t fall into our armpits when lying down.

I’ve seen a lot of young people on social media lately lamenting how they had to achieve all their dreams before 25 or it would be too late.

But unless your dreams require you to not make grumbling noises when you get up off a low chair, or being completely free of joint pain, you’re going to be fine.

If you’re lucky, most of life happens after 25. Hell, most of it is after 40 if you’ve got good genes. Sure, you’re probably out of time to become Olivia Rodrigo (Disney starlet turned chart-topping popstar by 18), but you can still become Janet Weiss (one of the best punk drummers of all time, joined American rock band Sleater-Kinney at the age of 31 and was still touring with them into her 50s).

There’s even more time to become actor Jean Smart, who worked for 40 years in Hollywood to become an overnight success with her roles in Mare of Easttown and Hacks at 70.

I’m lucky that I’ve had my mother as a role model. She got her PhD at 50, established a career as a researcher after that, and took up competitive long-distance running and high-impact interval training in her 60s.

And she’s still learning new things in her 70s: after an injury ended her running career, she wanted to learn how to ride a bike, so she got an adult-sized tricycle (more stability on three wheels) and pedalled away, now cycling long distances. She’s also learning Portuguese and writing a book on Australian women over 75 who are achieving things later in life.

What often holds us back from trying new things as we get older is fear of not being instantly perfect, or worrying what others will think.