What can we see when we see an old person? Most will say wisdom. But is that what really people think? Or is it just another episode when we mask our true thinking and speak out something totally different?
Whatever answers may be, all lies on one aspect only. And that's EXPERIENCE!
Elders no matter the wrong and the right decisions they have made in life, they have went through a life of deceptions and moments of happiness. Some of them can share their experiences with glee while others do it with regret. And when we listen to them, we can't help but judge according to our own perception of life. then we compare their moments to ours and come up with a conclusion.
But what we often forget is that it's not a question of measuring the type of value any old person have provided. Though it is important - personally - regarding to contribution he or she could have made to society, at the end of the day what matter is what they can do with the little time they have.
Elders can at times - well, many times - be ignored and left aside as an old couch. Some people tend to believe that they are not useful anymore. Even if we indulge ourselves into certifying a value point here, we end up thinking that old age are just the final stage, which is merely compose of waiting.
And what kind of waiting?
The inevitable fact of dying.
I always consider that life isn't worth it if we just spend our last days of earth sitting down watching the time goes bye. There are excuses that many elders bring up to spend those days in a seemingly eternal static mode. Many of them have to do with health. They are driven to believe that since they are old, they can fall in some illness which in fact we all can fall into any illness at any given time and at any given age. But they retreat themselves into a self-constructed cave where they renounce to practically everything.
Society contribute to this too. We often see how commercials or campaigns - though they are noble - run everywhere. unfortunately, they lack of a more valuable message. Society have to induce the correct idea, letting them know that they can still be productive for themselves and for others.
In addition, elders have to toss away old concepts and taboo that just strike fear in their hearts. By the excuse of wellness, they are led to think that immobility is the best option to maintain a good health. What they don't know is that instead of maintaining a good physical condition, they are actually calling out diseases.
Even if they get lucky, their bodies need to be more functional than ever because at that age muscles and bones become fragile and the joints get stiffen. And the worst thing to do is retire permanently from living.
Also, at the critical moment of facing death, we should not give in so lightly. There's a good poem which I would love to close this post to.
It's about old age, which it's very pertinent to this special holiday.
@edave