‘Life is too short’: Dame Judi Dench shares her wisdom on ageing and living in the moment

In a recent interview, screen icon Dame Judi Dench opened up about her unique perspective on ageing gracefully and finding joy in the present moment.

Dench, with her trademark wit and charm, dismissed the notion of fretting over the inevitable passage of time

“I have no attitude to it; I don’t want to even think about it,” she told Good Housekeeping.

Dench’s view of the future is as impressive as her incredible career. Her wisdom, earned through years in the spotlight, offers valuable insights for success and enjoying the fleeting moments in life.

“If you start looking ahead, you miss the bits that are happening now,” she said.

“I find it very hard to talk about two or three days’ time; I think, ‘No, no, no, this bit is lovely’. That’s not to say you don’t prepare for things in the way that we have to, but I think it’s a pity if you waste the moment. Life is too short.”

In addition to her insightful views on getting older and making the most of the time you’ve got, Dench recently shared her healthy attitude to working in her late 80s, despite recent revelations about her deteriorating eyesight.

“We’ve got to keep going and not think of age too much,” said the beloved 88-year-old actress, sitting for an upcoming episode of Portrait Artist of the Year, as reported by The Daily Express.

“You have to think you are about 56.

“Also, I don’t make a point of keeping fit. I am very bad at that.”

Dench’s “just keep going” attitude is all the more poignant in light of her age-related macular degeneration (AMD), which has made her ongoing acting duties considerably more difficult in recent years.

Appearing on The Graham Norton Show earlier this year, Dench revealed that the disease — which blurs the eye’s sharp, straight-ahead vision — has now reached the point that she can no longer read scripts or see much on set.

“It has become impossible”, she told Norton, “and because I have a photographic memory, I need to find a machine that not only teaches me my lines but also tells me where they appear on the page.”

“I used to find it very easy to learn lines and remember them. I could do the whole of Twelfth Night right now.”