An elderly person at the drive-in queue of Mac Donald’s was negotiating his car slowly. A young lady in the car behind kept honking in spite of the sticker ‘E’ (ELDERLY) displayed, meaning an elderly person driving. Taking a little longer in placing his order at the order window the lady is now expressive gesturing and bad mouthing. The elderly man places his order and then asks for another repeat informing the attendant to tell the lady in car behind he has pre ordered & paid for her too. Moving ahead to the delivery window he notices from his car rear mirror the lady now smiling waving her hands saying thank you, probably feeling the old man repaid her rudeness with kindness. At the delivery counter the old man takes delivery of both his orders. The young lady on reaching the delivery window is surprised and told there is no pre order for her and is asked to go back re-join the queue from the order window. Moral of the story old are around for long time don’t mess with them.
Young is defined as being in the first or early stage of growth in life and old is having lived a long time. Young or old we are here to add what we can to life and not get what we can from life. It’s a universal pursuit for older people to feel and look younger than their age. This incompatibility for many between how they feel and how they look when first notice-it-in mirror, all possible efforts to disguise it begins. While we work on outer beauty to attract, ensure working on the inner beauty to captivate.
Stepping, putting, or standing in others shoes will happen but first the growing up in your own shoes is vital. Starting young learning values, ethics and morals, much care and respect is exercised with the elderly. However in its absence most young are quite expressive belittling the physical weaknesses or diseases of old age, especially loss of mental faculties of their elders. Not realising they cannot capture and delay the fragrance of their youth in blossoming body and keep it that way for infinite period. Good old saying “youth wears itself out and old age triumphs”.
The old cannot always build the future for youth, but surely can build youth for the future. The old will have to have confidence in young people, giving them a chance to surprise their generations ahead. There seems one primary distinction while the youth typically dwells in future, the old lives in the past. Often the youth behave as if they have figured it all, but the old have realised, one is young only once but can stay immature indefinitely. Ageing emphasizes the value of wisdom and experiences in conquering situations and obstacles. An elderly’s confession “the choice to admire clever people when young is quite replaced admiring kind people when old”.
You live and you learn, hence neither the young to postpone nor the old to retire from it. The mantra is ‘heart that loves is always young, the mind that constantly is learning stays young'.
Blessed are those who start young & revel in Naam Simran. Gurbani says satgur mitar mayraa baal sakhaa-ee. “My Friend, the True Guru, has been my Best Friend since I was very young. I cannot survive without seeing Him, O my mother! O Dear Lord, please show Mercy to me, that I may meet the Guru. Servant Nanak gathers the Wealth of the Lord’s Name in his lap. SGGS ANG94
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