I’m an old lady by any standard. I’m barreling toward my seventy seventh birthday and scheduled for cataract surgery. My knees are shot but I exercise every day to keep them going for a bit longer. I have aches in so many parts of my body that I mostly just ignore the twinges and twitches that attempt to keep me down. In spite of the reality that I am not getting any younger I am determined to refrain from being a stick in the mud “fuddy duddy.”
They say that the mind is a terrible thing to waste and mine is still working rather well. I use it to keep learning and growing. I find that I often feel closer to the opinions and thinking of young people than those my own age. I’d like to think that I am still growing and willing to see things from differing perspectives. My past was quite nice but I was also taught that my goal should always be to look to the future. I don’t want to get so bogged down in memories that I miss the joy of innovation and forward thinking. I have tuned my ear to the voices of the young because I find great wisdom in what they have to say.
I was reading a very unscientific opinion piece that asserted without evidence that eighth graders of today are way behind the educational level where we once were. As someone who excelled in school and continues to teach and tutor students I can say without hesitation that such a comment is absurd. If anything today’s young people are way ahead of where we once were. Few my age tackled Algebra I in the eighth grade but today there are advanced seventh graders tackling Algebra I and prepping for a mathematics education that takes them past Calculus B before they graduate from high school. Even the less advanced students are learning more math than the average person did not so long ago. Everyone gets as least as far as Pre Calculus which features topics that most parents have never before seen.
I have grown weary of the insults hurled on our youngest adults. By far most of them are better educated than previous generations. They are not lazy like they are often portrayed to be either. They work hard and have dreams for their futures just as humans that age have always had. The biggest difference is in their acceptance of diversity as a powerful societal force. They seem to understand the potential of all people far better than many from past generations have. They realize the greatness of young women and minorities that was all too often overlooked in past eras.
I believe that today’s youngest adults are capable of greatness and we should always listen to what they have to say and provide them with opportunities to use their skills and ideas for the betterment of society. I listen to to them and hear brilliance. I get excited being around them. They make me feel so much younger than I actually am. I would like to think that we all want to invest in them because whether or not we like the idea of surrendering our hold on all the levers of power, sooner or later we will all be too weak and outdated to stay in charge. We have talent waiting in the wings that we need to begin using. It is a gift that we really need to bestow sooner rather than later.
I’d like to believe that I am still thoroughly modern and in step with progress but my generation and I will best serve the world by stepping aside and funding the hopes and dreams of the future. Our focus should be on making every effort to focus on supporting and developing the twenty and thirty somethings among us. No extra vacation home will satisfy our vanity or be as powerful an investment as putting our trust in the young adults among us and doing everything possible to boost them up on the ladder of success.
I suspect that I still have much to offer the world around me but my days are going to become increasingly more limited. I already find myself surrendering to lethargy earlier in each day. I can’t work all day and then be active at night. That kind of schedule is for the young. I can spend the morning marching through the streets of my city in protest of the way that our nation is moving but I will come home with tired feet and a longing to hit my bed earlier. We need the gung ho initiative of our youth For all of history the very best ideas have emanated not from the old folks but from those just entering the adult world.
The time I have left should be dedicated to encouraging and boosting the younger generations. I know that my brain feels younger than my body but even that may change as the years keep passing. I’d like to think that I might end my time on this earth by mentoring the future. Lately people my age are doing far too much yearning for times that were far less great than we remember. We’ve had our shot at being in the room where the big things happen. Now its well past time to enjoy watching the tides move forward while floating happily along with them. There is a time and a season for everything. I’m ready to use mine to encourage those who are just beginning to express their ideas.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 