You can do it | Memoir Monday (Week 3)

Talking to my granddaughters is like finding a box of surprises. They name series, characters, and singers that are completely unknown to me. In our conversations I realize how quickly our times have changed.

When I was their age, some fifty years ago, I used to sit with my grandmother and my parents and watch the same TV channels on the only TV in the living room. In my country there were only three or four channels that everyone watched. That TV did not separate us because we could talk about the same topics, the same programs; we loved and hated the same characters and watched the same advertising...

But with the arrival of the new technologies things have changed radically, now my granddaughters are not very enthusiastic about the things I watch on TV, it is increasingly difficult for me to find something that is attractive to them and that we can watch together. For them, the cell phone opens up an infinite and new world, so absorbing and invasive that it isolates them. Step by step they lose contact with their friends, with their family, with everyone...

This isolation worries me, I know it is not something good for them; nothing that separates us from others, that breaks the coexistence with family, friends and neighbors can be good.

Whenever I can, I try to talk to them about the things that seem important to me. And although I am aware that what I tell them may not make much sense to them, I am convinced that if we throw seeds into the air some of them may germinate. Maybe the time will come when they will remember something of what grandfather used to say...

I often talk to them about the importance of gratitude. It often happens that we are not grateful enough. That is why sometimes we become unhappy. We long for what we lack instead of focusing on what we have. If we look closely we can realize that in most cases we have more than enough. Just the fact that we were born into a family that protects us, loves us and provides us with a roof over our heads should be enough to be grateful for.

I always tell my granddaughters that they are privileged. Unlike them, millions of children in the world do not have a home where they feel safe and secure, they have no one to keep them company. Learning to value our families, even if they are not perfect, can give us a lot of peace of mind in life.

I often comment on how important it is not to compare ourselves. At their age, they are very susceptible to media manipulation.

All over the social networks and the media they are invited to compare themselves with the so-called influencers. They are the ones who set the references of how the body should look, how to dress, the objects to have, the habits to practice.

It is easy for a young person to fall into the comparison and they may even feel bad because their reality is very different from the one proposed by the influencer... Maybe that is why there are so many young people who feel dissatisfied and depressed.

To my granddaughters I tell them to move away from imitation, that each one has enough to value herself, each one has her own talents, which they can learn to develop as they want to make their own way. If they stop comparing themselves, it is very likely that they will be happier and learn to see life in a kinder way.

In the few times we have the opportunity to go to the mountains or the sea I take the opportunity to tell them how happy we can be if we look at all those things that life offers us for free. The colorful flowers, the light touch of the breeze on our skin, the embrace of the sea wave... These are simple things that nourish our senses, calm our spirit and fill us with joy.

Whenever I have the opportunity I try to do my best to raise the self-esteem of the youngest. I have no doubt that the more aware they are of their potential and the value they have as human beings, the further they can go.

Each child and each young person is a promise for the future, they are the possibility that we have to make our world a better place... That is why they deserve to be cared for with dedication and care...

Thank you for your time.