Opinion: Aging makes us wiser… theoretically

Someone, maybe famous – maybe not, once said, “Inside of every old person is a younger person wondering, ‘What the hell happened?’” Along these same lines, someone else (perhaps a politician) once said, “Age doesn’t’ always bring wisdom. Sometimes it comes alone. And is quite often angry.”

While there is much truth in the aforementioned quotes, they do not offer a complete understanding of the benefits that older, more mature people contribute to our society. First of all, aging makes people more mature, mentally as well as physically.

 Indeed, there are many changes that happen to people as we age, but they don’t have to be scary or disheartening. Contrary to popular belief, getting old is not the beginning of the end, and there are actually several benefi ts of growing older.

Whereas younger people are generally more biased in their attitudes, and apt to be more volatile, older people are generally wiser in judging people and situations. The aging process also encourages people to change their beliefs and attitudes about certain things, like dealing with inept politicians and other varmints. As they become better judges and critics, older folks seem to sweat the small stuff less. Once they have gone through all sorts of experiences, some of which are quite harrowing, they have more knowledge about a broader spectrum of things, and this increased knowledge allows them to ride the ups and downs of life with less stress.

Younger people, on the other hand, are normally more self-absorbed in trying to make their place in the world. They have lots of self-oriented issues that require figuring out, which takes up a large amount of their time. In most cases most of these issues no longer matter to older people, and consequently, they have more inner peace.

Older folks are also much more tolerant of other people and their situations. More seasoned people have generally encountered and overcome a myriad of problems and adverse conditions in their youth, and thus they are aware of the consequences of failing to tolerate others. That is why we see older people being sent on peace missions around the world – because they have a greater understanding of difficult situations, and thus have a better chance of success.

Usually, older people are regarded with greater respect by other members of society. This is due to the fact that most of them have successfully navigated life’s storms and many of them have paved the way for other members of society. We have learned from personal experience that the world is full of “crap” and that we will eventually step in it. As we age, our lives become defined by our experiences. All the experiences that we go through add to the benefits of growing older, and they help us become stronger and better able to cope with adverse situations.

As we age we may become physically weaker; but we become mentally and spiritually stronger, tougher, and better able to handle difficult circumstances.

One of the main benefits of aging is that we don’t have huge expectations of our future because we have pretty much done all that we’ve set out to do. This means that we spend less time and money on non-essential items. Additionally, we generally have reduced responsibilities and therefore have more time and treasure to contribute for the betterment of our communities.

The latest studies now indicate that similar to wine, getting old may actually be beneficial to our minds. Middle aged people are much better at problem solving since we can reason more creatively. The wisdom gleaned from all those years of experience helps middle aged people become more intuitive and better decision making.

So, what does all this mean for Clarendon and Donley County? Well, for one thing, we have a huge reservoir of talented, experienced citizens to draw upon, for weal or woe. Our citizens are much better able to mentor our young people, both our children and the students of Clarendon College, who help sustain our community.

We have an enormous and diverse group of bright young people who share our town for most of the year. Yet, there seems to be very little personal interaction between our college students and our citizens, which is a shame. We can teach our young people much, and we can learn much from our young people.

If we understand that all those tattooed and pierced young people are simply expressing themselves, much as we did with long hair (when we had hair) and tie-dyed clothes, we will find that they are not really all that much different than we once were. If they will turn off their myriad electronic devices and sit down and talk to us, there is much we can learn from each other.

We also need to remember that when we were growing up we learned about our world from one local newspaper and a couple of network news channels. Today’s young people have to ferret out accurate information about the world, as best they can, from millions and billions of Internet pages – most of which portray inaccurate or blatantly false information. We can use our experience to help guide them to a truer understanding of the world and their place in it.

If we really want to go the extra mile and help our young people we can become more active in the goings-on at Clarendon College. Furthermore, we can create and fund scholarships at CC in memory of loved ones who have gone before us. Better yet, we can create and fund large endowments to Clarendon College. Such actions would help ensure that Clarendon College will remain the Pearl – or Athens (as you prefer) – of the Panhandle long into the future.