The Wisdom Of The Elders

Timeless Truths That Still Holds Power Today

The younger we are, the more we think that older generations are not qualified for the brave new world that we will inherit. And in some cases that is true. But only on a surface level. Like your grandfather trying to make an online purchase. Or your boomer mother working on a viral video strategy for TikTok. But there are areas in which age plays a big role. And I am not talking about the experience, because we all know that is certain. What caught my particular interest while listening to old people, is that they know how to be human much better than the young ones. And being human can only be learned by living. But what does it mean to be “better” at being human? Can we improve that quality? And if we can, should we? After a certain time, I have noticed that some things that I heard when I was a teenager ring a different bell for a post-30-year-old me. Most of these things were concepts of great resistance in my young years, but after all, turned out to be true.

Three Indian boys, helping each other like brothers. Photographed by Simas Šuminskas.

First, what comes to mind is a teenage rush to get everything fast. Money, skills, phenomenal shape, knowledge, status, wisdom. This mostly comes from a lack of all those things, because let’s be fair, all of these things come with time and effort, and when you are young, you just haven’t put enough of it to make the latter work. Some, blinded by this need to get things fast choose shortcuts instead. Like steroiding their gym experiences, looking for get-rich-fast schemes, becoming a life coach right after school, or flexing on Instagram to show that they have “made it”. Even if some of these things work, they always backfire, because of the side effects of unnatural acceleration and a lack of mental skills to sustain all the fast accumulated goods.

Another one that is so good to know now is that joy and happiness are not in the external but in the internal. And I know, it sounds so goddamn cliche, but it is so true. Your level of happiness mostly depends on your relationship with yourself. It is largely shaped not by what is happening to you, but by you you frame it and relate to it. A great mind can turn shit into gold. And this happens solely by reframing the way of perceiving what happens to you. So work on knowing and understanding yourself parallel to the work you do in the external world.

The last one, which resonates the most at a given time is about the power of faith. Believing in something, a higher spirit or intelligence is rarely the topic among young ones. An immature mind is simply not ready for such an existential idea. And I do not want to make it necessarily age-related because it is not. But more often we do not encounter deep philosophical spiritual or religious questioning among the young generation. Most people in Western society discover God, The Universe, The Force, Yourself, you name it, after they experience some sort of life lessons happened to them.  And the connection with this essence grows over time. The faith in something keeps you intact and grounded even when things seem unbearable. Especially in these situations, where you are being tested by life itself. But this is a delicate one because if it is not there yet, you cannot force it. It comes or does not without us controlling it.

“Up To The Mountain”, photographed by Simas Šuminskas.

As we navigate through life, the wisdom of our elders often takes on new meanings, just like a good movie- the more times we watch it, the more we find. On the contrary, some of this generational wisdom, when empirically tested, turns out to be inapplicable to our zeitgeist or individual lives. The beauty of this journey is that we get to test it all with personal discovery. Most of these processes of understanding cannot be accelerated. It is their nature to grow slowly and organically. Although, what is possible is to live life bravely and wholeheartedly and learn the lessons as they arrive. The dots will connect afterwards.