Why Young People Should Spend More Time With Elders
Something weird just happened that prompted me to write this piece of content you’re reading right not and I will get onto it in a second, but basically it’s about why young people should spend more time with the old ones, I promise at the end it should leave you pondering.
I know what you’re thinking “But Emil, old people are boring, they don’t get us! They look at us like fools!” and you might be right, since most of the time we are fools and just don’t want to deal with it.
I just finished watching this video and it touched home with me, since I lost my grandfather when I was just a little older than that kid was, but still remember having this type of conversations with him while he was alive.
So it got me thinking about a lot of things and the fact that most of us young, eager to learn, destined for greatness, hungry folks, simply ignore one of the best sources of life advice available to us.
We got so used to reading lists like “55 Things Every Man Should Do in His Lifetime” that the nature of the message has been diluted. We read content like that, acknowledge it and move on with our lives assuming it went somewhere in our subconscious and it will be included in all future decisions without much effort. Just pile up info and let it rest there.
The reason I believe we don’t materialize that kind of info into our daily lives to the degree we’d like to, has to do more with our emotional intelligence than your IQ or volume of information. The info is not associated with something deep, with something close to the heart so that we make sure it stays with us and is an active part in our decision making process.
Come to think of it, we’ve all met people before that go through life based on a few “golden rules” they’ve been passed on and rarely do something that comes against that.The reason that happens is that they have a strong emotional bond with the events & the advice that makes them guide their life upon them.
Older people are a “goldmine” -pun intended- for life wisdom that most of us choose to ignore while we rush towards life, not realizing that at some point in the future we’ll be the ones sitting in their shoes. Who knows, maybe with more money, maybe with a couple of mistakes we had to learn from ourselves but probably pursuing ghost goals that once we achieve understand that these don’t lead to the true happiness we’re seeking.
No matter if your elders were successful or not, they have on thing you could never buy and it’s a long process to earn it: life experience.
I remember a quote that runs in the family and it has to do with the respect we carry for trees:
What is the quickest way to get a 50 years old tree? Answer: 50 years!
It very well translates into business, the only way to get that kind of experience is to go through the process. The second best thing is to have someone who’s been through it tell you what he’s gotten out of it and use that in your journey.
Take your time, do drink tea and listen! It’s the time of investment in ourselves that all of us can make and it doesn’t cost a dime.
If by a similar reason to mine, your grandparents are not around anymore never miss the opportunity to ask an elder What is the one thing they’ve learned about life? and What is one piece of advice they would share with their younger selves?
Think about it like this, you get to have access to years and years of real life experience and all you have to do is give them a little piece of your time and listen! From my experience they will be thrilled to share it with you!
I know this isn’t the usual type of article you were probably expecting but I just wanted to jump at the opportunity to put these thoughts here, if not for you guys, at least for me. But if you do happen to read it I truly hope this article will come into mind next time you’re around someone who’s already made most of the mistakes you are about to make in the future.
Thanks for reading this Aluxer, would love to hear about your experiences in the comments!
