The Wisdom Of The Elderly

The wisdom of older people is infinite, it is enough to be willing to listen to  their life stories and life with the heart. Just be willing to appreciate the wisdom that only the years have allowed them to acquire. Older people can advise us based on their experience, their successes and their failures. Which, as they are varied and diverse, are very useful.

Life has many shades, it’s not all black or white, and we realize this when we bring the wisdom of older people into our life. The different experiences build a whole life, made up of key, important and even unforgettable moments that will mark our character and write our history. Moments marked by love and family, but also by inevitable events such as death. 

Working as an operator of the remote assistance service has allowed me to know many stories of users and their families.  It gave me the opportunity to listen to them, understand them and imbue myself with their affection and, of course, their wisdom: the wisdom of older people.

The wisdom of the elderly

Love

The wisdom of older people contains valuable advice on love and the importance of choosing your life partner well.  As many of them tell, especially women, sooner or later the children leave home, it is the law of life. This departure can leave a void, as it causes major changes in the family dynamic.

Some parents can suffer from empty nest syndrome. At this time,  when the children are no longer at home and you retire, you have more free time and much of this time is shared with your partner.  For this reason it is advisable to have a positive relationship and fully understand each other. On the contrary, loneliness weighs even if there are two of you.

On the other hand,  conversing with an older person helps us believe in love more strongly than ever.  There are couples that last more than thirty, forty, fifty or even sixty years together. Overcoming difficulties of all kinds, like a great team. Widowers or widows who miss their life partner, who remember him with affection and gratitude. They recall big and small details such as: the wonderful father or the wonderful mother he was, his jokes, his passions, how much he / she liked to go to the countryside or play with his grandchildren.

Others have to separate in life from their partner, because one of the two has to go to a medical facility or a pensioner, while the other remains alone at home. Most visit their partner every day, no matter what illness they have or whether they can speak or remember.

Loneliness

Loneliness is the frame of the sadness experienced by many elderly people . The wisdom of older people also helps us to learn about loneliness. A loneliness that sometimes they feel because they do not want to disturb, others because they have distanced themselves from family and, still others, because they have few relatives or friends.

There are stories of all kinds.  Many children do not want to know anything about their parents, with or without reason, and perhaps some elders, if they could go back in time, would do things in another way.

As young people we never think that the day will come when we will be old and that our actions today could have serious consequences tomorrow, that not treating people well, not trying to relate to others can isolate us from humanity, from society. and even from our loved ones.

We all need others, after all, the human being is a social animal.  Having hobbies and being able to find them at any age is important, it is a beautiful cure for loneliness. Some of these pastimes will have to be carried out in company, while others alone but, in any case, they will help us socialize. As in the case of an 85-year-old user, to whom her grandchildren gave a tablet that she uses to try their hand at various games, such as the famous Candy Crush. Thanks to this new hobby, she keeps busy, trains her mind and fosters an emotional bond with her grandchildren.

Family

Valuing the family is part of the wisdom of older people. Not only the children are important, many nephews, for example, take care of their uncles as if they were their own parents, they are crazy about them.

Family has been, is and will be important. Family memories are always of great value, both vivid and those that continue to be created when one receives visits from children and grandchildren, or other family members. There are many anecdotes that older people tell , some recent and some not so, and many about their parents or siblings.  I remember several conversations that struck me:

• A user recited several of her father’s poems. He hadn’t even written one on paper, but his father’s memory was kept alive every time he recited them. Precious poems, full of life and popular wisdom.

• Another user fondly remembered her father who taught her and her brother to read and write every night. Even today, despite his 80 years, he remembers perfectly the title of the first book he read when he was seven, The Ugly Duckling .

Death

Learning to accept death as part of life is a fundamental pillar of the wisdom of older people.  They accept the approach of death  without ceasing to live. Indeed, they enjoy much more what they have acquired over the years, when they stopped being dwarves and turned into giants.

However, it is usually more difficult to accept other types of losses, such as the deterioration of one’s physical and mental abilities or the death of loved ones, such as friends and family.

As in childhood, the family also occupies the most important place in old age. However, now it is not the parents, but the children that are the center of attention.

Gratitude

The wisdom of older people overflows with gratitude. They are grateful for the life they have lived, they understand that their journey has been long and that their hearts keep beating is a gift.  They do not deny or regret difficulties; they understand that thanks to them they have become the people they are today and that a fascinating dialectic between luck and their will has brought them where they are. They don’t turn their backs on enthusiasm, you can see them playing cards after eating or in the moments they share with grandchildren.

They remind us that work humanizes us, constituting the fabric by which we develop many of our skills. But what we do wrong when we turn it into the focus of our lives. Older people usually regret the moments when they have fallen into this temptation and not those when they have succumbed to proposals to share time with family or friends.

They also save the sense of utility it generates from work. Regarding this point, I am reminded of the case of a person who, at the age of 80, enrolled in a painting course without having ever painted before. Now he gives paintings to the whole family and does so with that priceless feeling of having the ability and the will to generate value, despite and thanks to the years.

Many elderly people are passionate about reading,  their family environment has fostered their interest in culture, despite the difficulties. They read newspapers or books of all kinds, from the most classic novels to the most current essays. They look for the content they like and the formats that best suit their physical abilities, especially sight.

What can we learn if we listen carefully to older people? They have a lot to teach us about life, thanks to their experience and the way they deal with the present. Older people keep, for those who wish to listen to them, stories full of strength and courage, of tears and smiles, of sun and rain. Their stories are full of anecdotes of all kinds, of happy and less happy or even sad moments. And best of all, they are eager to share them.

The wisdom of older people is infinite.