There's this classic Grandpa energy. They have little to say about a lot and in as much as someone once said "even fools grow" a lot of grown ups through experiencing both happiness and pain learn a lot and gain wisdom.
But one interesting trait about grown ups is that they seem to talk less and don't respond or react much to situations as they used to when they were younger.
You would see your grandpa all quiet and sometimes when there's a messy situation they look like they're unconcerned. I actually use to think that it was a matter of just their physical energy but apparently it was a matter of their mentality. What looked like patience was actually the fact that they cared less about the situation.
They could be watching their grandson mess around in the living room, something the father or mother would be yelling about, the Grandpa would just be watching almost unconcerned. It really does look like they're patient with the kid but actually it's wisdom plus the popular saying "I'm getting too old for this shit"
I used to think that growing older automatically meant growing wiser, calmer, more patient but honestly that’s not what I’ve realized after being so close to a number of old people.
The thing is that when you’re younger, everything feels like a big deal to you and it's mostly because it's usually new to you. Young people are experiencing new things all the time so they usually lose their shit over it.
When they get into a relationship for the first time and the person they love gives them a late text reply, they instantly start overthinking it and making assumptions, most of which are wrong. That's usually why their early relationships mostly end in a break up.
Old folks have experienced all those things so many times that nothing is new and ergo the natural "not give a fuck" behavior.
Tiny details used to have this huge gravitational pull on young ones but grownups are not phased at all.
When life starts stacking experiences on your shoulders with jobs, relationships, bills, heartbreaks, illnesses, tiny wins and the occasional disaster that turns your whole world inside out, it has an impact on your mentality.
Most of the old folks can relate to this, what feels enormous at 21 is laughably small at 31 and by 41, you don’t even notice it happened.
It’s really not that older people have the patience of saints, no, they've basically burned through their stockpile of emotional energy on things that didn't really matter and since there's almost no energy left, they're protecting the little fuel left.
They get very selective with their outrage and a bit stingier with their stress, they're not going to stress over just anything, it has to be a matter of life and death or involving their loved ones before they show deep concern.
Not every opinion about you deserves space in your head, and infact because of how old they get, they barely remember most things to even get bothered by it.
You don't have to grow old to adopt this behavior and mindset, you can do it while you're young, it'll save you from way too many unnecessary drama.
Even if it's difficult for you to do this, eventually the longer you live, the better you get at knowing what’s really going to matter a week, a month or ten years from now. Your experiences will mature you but you could also choose to learn from the old people and don't give too much attention to every little thing.
The energy you conserve from learning this trick will be used for more valuable things in life. Don't wait till you're old before you do this, you can learn it and it'll benefit you more when you're young.
