Dubai Diaries: How to stay young even as you grow old

Could living in the future alleviate the pains of growing old in the present? This is the philosophical query that is currently keeping me up. And things came to a head last morning giving me enough reason to believe that living with your head up in the clouds for most part of your waking moments could see you through some of the toughest times of your life.

My personal journey in a time-traveller’s machine began I presume somewhere in my mid-20s when through a combination of sheer indolence, and mathematical irreverence, I was always a year ahead of my biological age. Which basically meant that come January I believed I was turning a year older when in actual truth I was turning a year younger since I had got the simple mathematical formula all jumbled up in my mind. In the 24 hours leading up to D-day there would be a frantic recounting of the years, only to be hit upon by euphoria upon the realisation that I was not as old as I presumed.

The sheer joy of finding out you are actually younger than you believed yourself to be up till that moment is indescribable. Lesson learnt, you’d think, but no. The next year the same formula would repeat itself and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button continues to replay in my life like a recurring dream.

This constant state of living in the future meant that the present was always much rosier than I envisaged. Imagine your mind travelling at lightening speed only to be brought to an abrupt halt in the future, forced to turn back and catch up with your body.

Something akin to this happened last morning. The previous 48 hours had been spent subtly conveying to the 5-year-old that spring break was nearly over and it was time to put the LEGO away and crank up his thinking mind, as his class teacher would have put it. Since the term break had caused quite a disruption in his normal routine, and by association mine as well, I was eager to embrace a return to action. So there I was bright and early on Sunday morning with eyes wide open as the clock struck 6 — a time of day I confess I hadn’t been privy to in a while in a vertical position.

Having gone to bed at 7:30pm the previous night in anticipation of an early wake up my body was in great form; tea made and had, newspaper read, Insta scrolled through and it was still only 6:20! I vainly try to wake up the usually FOMO afflicted 5-year old, but to no avail. I turn on the laptop to realise there was no daily timetable reflected in the school calendar.

Strange, I think to myself, as I pick up my phone to message a friend to casually figure out what stage of wake-up her three kids were at. In the meantime I go through umpteen school emails only to have the realisation dawn on me that school is only reopening next Sunday. Hurray for the perks of living in the future which means I have bought myself an entire week more of spring break to prep for the start of Term 3. Back to the future.

• Dubai