Way back when, before the Democrats or Republicans were even thought of, a debate of an entirely different nature occupied the biblical stage.

Ishmael and Isaac were having it out. The topic: circumcision.

"See here," says Ishmael, "I am more precious in G‑d's eyes, since I was thirteen when I had mine done."

"I beg to differ," answered Isaac. "I was eight days old. Now that's gotta be way cooler."

Who hasn't spent time lamenting their lost youth? Even my five-year-old son has been heard complaining that his kindergarten years are passing too quickly for him. Every day we waste is an opportunity squandered, every year that goes by without growth is a graveyard of abandoned hopes and aspirations.

The only consolation, for me, is the recognition that it is never too late to climb off the carousel of abandon and to begin the process of self-reinvention. History's roll call of achievement is crowded with individuals who came to greatness only late in life. Read the biographies of the Rich 200 for instance; for every dot-com teenage billionaire, there are 100 others who achieved success only after a lifetime accumulating experience.