Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Today, I was having a conversation with a new older friend — someone that is quickly becoming one of my mentors — about the importance of the older generation in passing down information, knowledge and life experience. While I agreed with him in theory, it has been my experience that most of the elderly people I’ve come into contact with fall in one of two categories:

1. The ‘live-and-let-live’ people that truly seem to be living their best lives, engaging with life and the various generations that proceed them; and
2. The people that feel like they have something to say.

Now, I may be wrong (and please do engage with me in the comments section, I am always seeking to learn and expand my knowledge), but in a weird way, I had a ‘Eureka!’ moment during the conversation, where I thought:

We all know how important the exchange of information between generations is, but (I think) to do this effectively, one must have the ability to transcend one’s own generational construct and be able to engage (and enjoy!) other generational constructs as well.

So, to put this simply. If you get to the age of sixty-five and you are unable to identify with twenty-five year olds, then it is highly unlikely that you’re going to be able to influence or mentor them. Why? Because you no longer belong to the world that is being built.

It’s a hard fact of life, but the children really are the future. They will manage this creation when you’re gone, so if you can no longer identify with the children emerging, then you belong to the past. However, there are millions of elderly people that are defying this. They are as playful and as vibrant as any eighteen-year-old — but hosting the knowledge of time and life experience.

So, the question I’ve been asking myself is this: what kind of person do I want to grow up to be?

I know the answer for me. Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments section.

(re-published from Medium.com)