Ecclesiastes 11:9 - 12:8 / Luke 9:43-45
Generally speaking, as one gets older, one would also get wiser.
Having crossed many bridges in life, the older one gets, the more experience one would have garnered.
From those experiences of life, one would attain some depth of wisdom.
So how the 1st reading would be understood depends on whether the reader or the listener is a young person or one who has the seniority of years.
Nonetheless the wisdom and the realities expressed in the 1st reading need to be constantly revisited in order to grasp it fully.
In the gospel, Jesus told His disciples to keep these words constantly in their minds: The Son of Man is going to be handed over into the powers of men.
But they did not understand it there and then. But later they would. And later they would also realise that what their Master went through, they too would have to go through.
Indeed, the wisdom and experience of life tells us this - If there is no suffering to hollow out our hearts, there would be no room for joy.
Whether for the young or for those well on in years, that is the reality.
Choosing or hoping otherwise would be vanity of vanities.