Listen to Old(er) People

Chip Hill

hsvag2tx05@gmail.com

I would like to offer some advice: listen to old(er) people. Now I'm quibbling some by not just saying old people. I include old(er) people, since I think the main thing is listening to someone from a different generation, who grew up with clearly different experiences than yours. That, sadly, probably doesn't include parents, since we apparently have perfected the art of not listening to them. But I'm sure they would welcome it if you tried.

For this Thought, I will just list some of the reasons that come to mind on why I give this advice:

Time is fleeting. The older a person gets, the fewer the opportunities you will have to hear what they have to say.

You will certainly learn a lot you didn't know. If it is a family member, you will likely be surprised at things that occurred in your family history, and will begin to better understand who you are.

These people will have some interesting experiences to share, such as how they tried something and failed, or succeeded. These stories will be valuable to you later when you are contemplating something similar.

One thing I hope you will learn is, that although technology has greatly expanded our tools and capabilities and what is achievable now, older people were just as smart as us to be able to do what they did with the tools and capabilities available back then.

Google search is great. But how valuable would it be to talk to someone you trust who has read several books on your subject of interest, or who had applicable experiences, and can give you the interactive and distilled knowledge that you seek?

Listening to an old(er) person allows you to step away from your frantic pace for a little while, and really absorb a personal experience.

It may or may not be obvious, but an old(er) person very likely will enjoy being listened to. Conversation will occur. And you may actually find a new friend.

I hope these are all good reasons as it just occurred to me, I have developed these Thoughts without anyone asking. And since I am one of those old(er) people I refer to, I hope someone is listening.

enough