We Have a Gift Younger People Don’t Have — Age and Wisdom
There’s a strange message we sometimes hear as we get older.
Slow down. Step aside. Let the younger generation take over.
There’s nothing wrong with slowing down a little. At 79, I certainly don’t do everything the way I did at 40.
But I’ve also come to realize that getting older gives us something we didn’t have when we were younger.
Experience.
And experience has value.
You Can’t Rush Wisdom
When you’ve lived 60, 70, or 80 years, you’ve probably experienced your share of good times and difficult ones.
You’ve raised families, worked for a living, paid bills, made mistakes, solved problems, lost people you cared about, celebrated successes, and probably started over more than once.
Some things worked out exactly as you hoped.
Others didn’t.
But all of it taught you something.
That’s one of the advantages of getting older that we don’t talk about enough.
You begin to recognize what’s important—and what’s not worth worrying about anymore.
I Didn’t Know at 40 What I Know at 79
Like most people, when I was younger I thought I knew quite a bit.
Looking back, there was plenty I didn’t know.
Some things simply can’t be learned from a book, a classroom, or the Internet. You have to live through them.
I’ve learned that problems that seem enormous today often look much smaller a few years later.
I’ve learned that money is important, but it isn’t everything.
I’ve learned that family, health, good friends, peace of mind, and having something to look forward to become increasingly valuable.
And I’ve learned that you can still change your mind and try something new at almost any age.
We’re Still Capable of Learning
One of the biggest mistakes we can make as we get older is believing our learning days are behind us.
I don’t believe that at all.
I’m 79 and I’m still learning.
Technology sometimes frustrates me. I’ve made plenty of mistakes trying new things. But I keep working at them.
And every once in a while I stop and realize:
I just learned something I didn’t know yesterday.
That’s a pretty good feeling at any age.
Our Experience Can Help Someone Else
There is another side to growing older that I appreciate more now.
What we’ve learned doesn’t have to benefit only us.
A conversation with a child, grandchild, neighbor, friend, or even someone we’ve never met can sometimes save that person from making a mistake we’ve already made.
We don’t have to lecture anyone.
Sometimes it’s simply sharing a story and saying:
“Here’s what happened to me.”
Then they can decide for themselves what to do with it.
That’s one reason I started Reinvent After 60.
I’m certainly not an expert on everything, and I don’t pretend to have all the answers.
But after 79 years, I’ve had enough experiences—good and bad—to have a few things worth sharing.
Getting Older Doesn’t Mean We’re Finished
Maybe that’s the most important lesson.
We don’t have to compete with younger people.
They have something we don’t have anymore: youth.
But we have something they can’t have yet:
Years of experience.
There’s value in that.
We can still travel. Learn. Help someone. Start a hobby. Solve a problem. Try a new technology. Enjoy our families. Sit on the porch with someone we love. Or simply appreciate an ordinary Tuesday afternoon more than we did 30 years ago.
Reinvention after 60 doesn’t have to mean starting your life over.
Sometimes it simply means recognizing the value of the life you’ve already lived—and deciding you’re going to keep enjoying it.
I’ve written more about this in Why Your 70s Can Be Better Than You Expected, because I’ve discovered that this stage of life can hold some pleasant surprises.
At 79, that’s how I look at it.
And I’m not finished yet.
— Gary Davis