Our society does not respect it's elders. Our culture focuses on and values youth. Youth is manifested in the importance placed on good looks, material wealth, activity, speed. In this society the elderly are burdens on the youth-ness of the young. Burdens on their family, potentially financial burdens, burdens in terms of time needed to take care of the elderly. Burdens on society for walking/driving/shopping too slow. They get in the way and need to be taken care of.
I do not want to live in a society where I become obsolete and a burden as I grow older. How can society change so that elders can be respected and be sources of wisdom and respect?
The elderly today, unfortunately grew up in a society that placed value on youth and material wealth. These current elderly spent much of their lives focusing on material success, not spending the time they needed on developing themselves as great people who have wisdom and a deep understanding of life and balance, qualities that are to be respected in old age. They themselves can feel that they are indeed a burden on the fast young society around them. Couple that feeling of having lost what is most important in society (youth) with the way society treats the elderly and portrays them in the media, and you have a self perpetuating and self fulfilling prophesy.
To be respected in old age, one must live life in a way that promotes self reflection and the pursuit/acquiring of wisdom. In a society where people grow up doing those things the elderly can and will be respected. If the wisest among us are held as the heroes, not the richest and most beautiful, then the elders will be the heroes, not the movie stars, musicians, politicians and models. You can not attain deep wisdom by the time you are 30. Youth will not be the most important thing. Aging well and good will be the most important bar to which people are held. To live this way and encourage others to do so is to change the values of society in which we live and in which we will live when we are the elders.
Now, this issue is actually much more complex than what is described above. My own grandfather (as many of you are probably thinking now) is an example of a great man. There is so much to look to him for in terms of examples on how to lead a good and love filled life. He lived a humble life style, surrounded by family, and always staying positive and optimistic about life's challenges and mysteries. But unfortunately for my grandfather, he is starting to feel that he is becoming someone who needs to be taken care of. He's beginning to feel that he could be a burden on those around him and on society. If he grew up, rather than knowing that one day he would become a burden in old age, knowing that he would be a respected member of society, he would have a completely different mindset. He may have gone through life searching for the answers to secrets to happiness instead. Instead of being a family hero, he could be a hero to society.
I do not want to live in a society where I become obsolete and a burden as I grow older. How can society change so that elders can be respected and be sources of wisdom and respect?
The elderly today, unfortunately grew up in a society that placed value on youth and material wealth. These current elderly spent much of their lives focusing on material success, not spending the time they needed on developing themselves as great people who have wisdom and a deep understanding of life and balance, qualities that are to be respected in old age. They themselves can feel that they are indeed a burden on the fast young society around them. Couple that feeling of having lost what is most important in society (youth) with the way society treats the elderly and portrays them in the media, and you have a self perpetuating and self fulfilling prophesy.
To be respected in old age, one must live life in a way that promotes self reflection and the pursuit/acquiring of wisdom. In a society where people grow up doing those things the elderly can and will be respected. If the wisest among us are held as the heroes, not the richest and most beautiful, then the elders will be the heroes, not the movie stars, musicians, politicians and models. You can not attain deep wisdom by the time you are 30. Youth will not be the most important thing. Aging well and good will be the most important bar to which people are held. To live this way and encourage others to do so is to change the values of society in which we live and in which we will live when we are the elders.
Now, this issue is actually much more complex than what is described above. My own grandfather (as many of you are probably thinking now) is an example of a great man. There is so much to look to him for in terms of examples on how to lead a good and love filled life. He lived a humble life style, surrounded by family, and always staying positive and optimistic about life's challenges and mysteries. But unfortunately for my grandfather, he is starting to feel that he is becoming someone who needs to be taken care of. He's beginning to feel that he could be a burden on those around him and on society. If he grew up, rather than knowing that one day he would become a burden in old age, knowing that he would be a respected member of society, he would have a completely different mindset. He may have gone through life searching for the answers to secrets to happiness instead. Instead of being a family hero, he could be a hero to society.
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