I think acting can be very frustrating, and there's no experience that doesn't make you a better actor.
My brother was a great audience, and if he liked the picture, he would laugh and laugh and laugh, and he would want to keep the picture. Making people laugh with an image I had created... what power that was!
I don't believe one grows older. I think that what happens early on in life is that at a certain age one stands still and stagnates.