Geezers Share Their Wisdom . . .

  . . . Hard Earned Wisdom

Serendipity strikes again! I was just about to waste a day or two of New Mexico weather too chilly (for me) to play golf in order to write some boring thing about babyboomers retiring then moving to and screwing up yet another beautiful area. When suddenly into my inbox pops a post by a young man who regularly writes thought provoking articles. 

I have often jokingly (I think) said that wisdom, as it relates to getting older, is overrated. In fact, I might be willing to trade 10 or 20 years of wisdom for 5 or 10 years of youth. While that may still be true, I recently learned that I might want to be very careful of what I traded; stuff that I thought was worthless might not be. Who knew, I might actually know good stuff! (Take that my doubting Thomas friends!)

Okay, I'm sorry, that's not funny, just a little Soylent Green humor

This young writer’s name is Sahil Bloom and he writes a newsletter that I now receive twice a week. In it he simply talks about things that he is learning as he goes through life. Big deal, you might say, we could all do that and perhaps so but I’ll bet you couldn’t make it as meaningful or interesting as he does. Also, did I mention the dude is only 32? 

He caught my eye with something he wrote a while ago when talking about visiting his parents: 

He lives on the west coast his parents on the east. He told a friend that he was going home to visit and his friend asked how old his parents were. Sahil told him they were in their early 70’s. His friend asked how often he sees them. He replied once a year. So, his friend then casually said, Sahil would probably only see his parents about 10 or maybe 15 more times. Boooinngggg, that got Sahil's attention! It got mine too but from the opposite end of that equation. I subscribed.

Which brings me to the latest revelation of this 32 year old wunderkind who started this article with this:

Every year on my birthday (January 5), I like to conduct some interesting exercise that will push me to grow in a new way. This year, I asked a number of 90-year-olds a simple question: "If you could speak to your 32-year-old self, what advice would you give?"

(I must say that certainly reminds me of my 32 year old self. Well, okay, those might not have been my exact words. In fact, it might have been closer to, “My God, how do you keep that belt above your belly?!" or "How do you make an efficient beer bong?”)

Anyway, he shared 40 different answers (none of which covered the urgent belt or beer questions.) I will just share a few to give you an idea of wisdom shared. (Answers in italics, Bloom's comments after.)

-        "No amount of money is ever worth trading for your peace of mind." ("Money often costs too much." - Ralph Waldo Emerson) 

-        "You may occasionally disappoint others, but make sure to never disappoint yourself." (You may let others down, but never let yourself down.) 

-        "Tell your partner you love them every night before falling asleep." (Someday you’ll find the other side of the bed empty and wish you could.) 

-        "Treat your body like a house you have to live in for another 70 years." (Invest in keeping the foundation and structure sound. A little bit of regular maintenance can go a long way.) 

-        "Always remind yourself that your track record for making it through your bad days is perfect." (It's easy to lose sight of this when you're down. Zoom out and reclaim your perspective.) 

And one that has recently taken on new meaning for me . . . (We stoic Norwegians aren't much for hugging - but apparently we can learn.) 

-        "Whenever you hug someone, make sure they are the one to let go first." (Treat every hug like it could be your last. You never know when it will be.)

The rest are equally simple and somehow pithy but I think you get the point. There are some pretty smart geezers out there (and a pretty smart 32 year old.) I think we all know a lot of these things but we either forget them or we just don’t think they are very important. They are.

It’s too late to help our 32 year old selves but I bet there are kids and grandkids who could use this wisdom of the ages (if you can get them to put down their damn phones long enough!)

Dear Leader and the Missus in a few years (I got your wisdom right here!)

(I wish I had thought to ask my 92 year old mom this question before she went to the Big Bowling Alley in the sky. I suspect she would have said something like "Try not to be a dumbass," which is good advice too.)

Anyway, the newsletter is called Curiosity Chronical by Sahil Bloom. If you are a curious person - as in you like to know stuff, not your odd personality - you might like to give it a try. (It's free, big spender.) 

Sahil Bloom Curiosity Chronical

PS

Only 15 years, 1 month and 13 days until anyone will be asking me for my wisdom!