For a human being to reach state of self realization we have to start early in life. God Almighty ordained a long journey of 1.1 million manifestations in human form before human beings realized self but if we wanted to complete journey of self realization in present life time we have to not only indulge whole time but wholeheartedly.
One needs the mettle and grit possessed by Swami Vivekananda. Anything less would not do.
In general journey towards self realization can be started any given moment of life be it young or old age. The main matter is that we did start. Most human beings on mother earth keep delaying the journey until the end and then it is too late.
The best part on path of self realization; spirituality is whatever our spiritual gains in present life time, we could start from the same level in next manifestation. Whatever our progress of self realization in present life time we can start from the same level in next manifestation. Nothing ever goes waste or dilutes in field of pure spirituality. Every spiritual effort gets accumulated.
Whoever wants to indulge in self realization must do it with an open heart. There was nothing wrong in realizing self. We must never care for what people said or did. People who themselves were incompetent to undertake journey towards self realization often commented on others. For the fox who could not reach for the grapes, they were sour.
Unmindful of others we must indulge in spirituality to reach state of self realization. The journey is long and the time at our disposal much less. Whatever little we can salvage on the spiritual front in present life time, we must definitely do it. On path of self realization every effort, every moment counts. We must never forget in next manifestation our soul atman within would manifest a new form, though connected through karma but totally different from the present one.