One thing I enjoy about aging, is it’s easy to see and understand a lot of things that would have eluded me when I was younger. This is primarily because I was seeing the thing happen for the first time. When you’re older, you can identify patterns. I’ll give you an example what I mean.
Last year, I wrote about Rolling Over To A New Reality. It’s about the invention and implementation of UPC codes in the 1980’s. Think of how far we’ve come since then.
That post is also about, Wal-Mart, and how that whole chain was rolled out. I happened to be on the front line of this situation; privy to their playbook?
Today, I’m interested and invested in a company that’s in the process of rising from the near-dead, to reinvent itself. When I realized they were using the Walmart playbook, I was overjoyed.
Why?
Because I know exactly how these tactics work. I know they’re effective. Consequently, I’m near positive the company will prevail, which means I’ve made a good investment.
The separation between the generations is costly on both sides. Somehow people have become convinced, learning the hard way is preferred. But if you learn the easy way, you’ll have all the extra time to learn other things. More things! Or maybe you can just avoid stress, which harms a person over time.
A good deal of life is repetitive. Understanding this makes it a lot easier to avoid bad decisions.
Have you noticed an upside to aging? Tell us!
There is no question. The subject of this post is a fact. I don’t know that I’ve ever in my lifetime seen the resistance to getting older we see today; physically, mentally, intellectually, other ways – the resistance to wisdom gleaned from experience is something to behold when kids are terrified to go through puberty, which is a natural process, even if it is annoying. This speaks a great deal to the notion of, ‘coming out on the other side’, a notion that seems to be utterly lost in the modern world. If you don’t feel euphoric all of the time, something must be wrong. 😐
I knew that value of my grandparents and leaned in. I can’t imagine where I would be if I had let go of them and not listened to their stories. They had the longest most colorful lives. Up and down, to hear it was interesting to me. I sat and imagined as they told all their tales. Some embellished, for sure.
I had kids that were not interested in these stories. Certainly not from me. Or their grandparents. They are sorry now. They wanted to learn the hard way. No one knew anything but them. So, you step out of the way, let them take the journey and step in it.
Before I opened the doors of my business years ago, I called on the people in town that had been in business the longest. The mom and pops. They were so kind to sit with me. I was prepared and asked as many questions as time allowed. They were graceful and answered. All had been in business as a mom and pop at least 30 years. I applied what they said. And I lasted until we moved, 15 years later.
There is a great value there. I have no idea why a lot of people resist ……
My youngest son said not asking cost him 10 years. A decade he could have been using to move forward instead of making corrections.
Soup, see my comment below. I mistakenly didn’t reply directly to yours, but that was the intention. On the bright side, I’m glad to see other experiences are possible. Just my individual chart isn’t prone to get those too often (or lately). 🙂
I agree with all, but then there’s one other side to the coin, when the elders in the room do want to see you break your nose because they think that the young thinks they know it all when in fact, the young is not offered any help at all. Not real help, anyways. A lot of people just want to see the young fail too. Something to consider when talking generational gaps. Especially if their Plutos square each other by sign… it can get really mean, I tell you that much…
Yes, I’ve seen that and it’s vile. They’re jealous!
Unfortunately that is the truth. Having a packed taurus/sco axis with major oppositions incl ac/DC you can fathom my experiences with plutos in Leo, especially now…
I can because I’ve seen them in action. I’ve actually written about this. It was scathing, as I recall. Got a lot of blowback from it. I figured at the time, it was from women who do this to younger women. Tear them down and cock block them, basically. I’m glad you brought this up.
This post was not intended to sell age to younger people. It’s legit, cool, to realize you know how something will play due to years on the planet. Especially in this age when we’re all supposed to be lost.
I’m feeling like writing about things people face at this age. Like my husband retiring and shifts you go through, at a stage beyond “empty nest”. I think these topics are under served. I also really like being this age. I thought writing about it might help people my age, but also people younger. Just let it be known, you can age happily and life remains interesting.
I guess I feel we’re all misrepresented. Everyone. I thought it might be worthwhile, to speak like this and represent myself, rather than stand by or morph into the image media presents.
I agree and subscribe in that we’re all misrepresented. Although the prejudice of “ageism” is now commencing to be referenced concerning work settings, I think it’s still more of an academic debate, probably not to be tackled seriously where it should (by HR, by managements, etc). Women do that to other younger women, men to younger men, but men to younger women is definitely the worst… pluto trying to subdue and conquer. When they can’t conquer they got their ego deflated… run…
Soup, see my comment below. I mistakenly didn’t reply directly to yours, but that was the intention.
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What mother in her right mind would want to see their child fail? I would walk on my elbows to help my child. Don’t know why you are directing this comment to me. You have the wrong mom. This is insulting and why I have pulled back from speaking on the blog. I don’t know what kind of elders you have but I didn’t have that kind. I gave my life to my children.
What I meant to say, is that I’m glad o read your comment, and that there’s people who have had the opportunity to experience your kindness like that. That’s all. Some fof us don’t get the same. Blessings
I have also seen men, jealous of their sons, to a point, they sabotage them.
🙁 there’s a lot of old people with major… issues – to use an euphemism.
I like when you write from an elder’s perspective. Having read here for a good decade now, on and off, it’s always interesting. You remind me of some of the elders when I was growing up. The ones that had had a full life still had their personality intact in their later years, albeit more seasoned 🙂