Have you ever sat down with an older person and asked them to recount some of their experiences in life and to reflect on what they may have learnt through those experiences? Philosopher George Santayana is famously purported to have said: “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”. Listening to an older person recount their experiences can open up our world in ways we never imagined and give us the opportunity to learn from the past.
I'm a day late, but with a public holiday yesterday I missed the International Day of Older Persons. The seniors.gov.au website describes the day in the following way:
The Day is an opportunity to recognise the contributions older Australians make to their families and communities, and to encourage participation by older people in community activities. Older Australians are, and have always been, an incredible asset. They have helped shape modern Australia and continue to make significant contributions to society with a lifetime of skills, knowledge and experience.
I wonder why we even need such a day, but I am reminded that I may be slowly edging my way into that age bracket (that's my perspective on things) and my view of older persons is probably different now to what it was 40 years ago. Sometimes in the prime of youth it is easy to discount those people who now seemed to be "passed it" and perhaps don't understand the way life is "these days".
There are those who would say that the Baby Boomers and those who went before them have messed up our planet and what is needed now is a new perspective on how we can address the future. Older people need to hear this and appreciate the new opportunities that a new generation will bring to the world, but the young also need to hear the stories of the past so that together, both old and young, we can move into the future with a clear understanding of what has gone before.
Let's take the opportunity this week to hear the stories of our older citizens and to say thankyou for their contribution.
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