Short window of opportunity

The other day, an elderly friend of mine, aged close to being a septuagenarian* was telling me about the financial turmoil that he was facing in his life. The last thing I would want to hear is the sob story of never ending saga of self pity and tear evoking hopelessness. I guess I had enough of listening to these melancholic tales throughout childhood and my present vocation. Not having a choice, I offered a sympathetic ear. (Don't know what the Almighty has in store for me; cannot be so cocky!)
He had been under the weather with a debilitating  ailment for  almost half a year and had somehow made a miraculous recovery, albeit not a complete one. During his illness, he had used up all his savings as his wife's lone income was insufficient to manage his daily expenses and had been living on his brother's hand-outs. Hence, he had to desperately get back on his feet, get to work and bring the bacon home! Whilst listening through all this sad story, (No! he did not ask for money!), my inner heart was just itching to blurt out, "What the heck were you doing all this while, for heaven's sake you were already working when I was still in secondary school. Goodness gracious!" Of course I (being the chicken and non-confrontational person that I am) said nothing like that but instead reassured him that I would try to help in whatever way I can (how fake or what!). Perhaps, my conservative upbringing which engrained upon me that the younger shall not be rude or the fear or uncertainty of what God has up his sleeves for me in the near future probably made me act the way I did.
Then I started thinking...
Life has given all of us opportunities, some more and some less. The window of opportunity is only ajar for a short moment in time. Then it slips away... Sometimes it is not easy to catch back the moment and bring back the glory.
As a child, you are given a decade and a half or so to absorb knowledge and develop all the characters needed to be an adult. After this period of knowledge acquisition, you are required to determine a career path for yourself to indulge for the rest of your life,unless you are a rolling stone which is now perceived to collect moss also (unlike a generation ago when it could not). Once you are settled in a vocation you decide to pursue, you only a short window period of about 10 years to prove yourself. After this point of time, by this you would reached 40 years of age, it is a matter of expansion and consolidation. It is quite difficult to start all over again. It is like a lady having a baby after 40 - it is difficult to conceive in the first place and if it happens, it is not going to be a stroll in the park but rather a soul-searching, hymns-chanting, frightening walk in the ghetto.