Respect your elders

No matter what you think, feel or understand of the past - there are stories, knowledge and wisdom that are held by people older than we are.

One thing that has always upset me about Australia, and the Western world as a whole, is that we treat elderly people as worthless. As soon as their working age has passed them by, they end up in a home - out of their communities, hobbies and unchallenged and left to get soft and ‘old’.

I am not saying things of the past are right, nor am I saying that just because someone is old they have inherent value, but we should show respect for our elders sheerly for the fact that they have a different perspective and experience of life than young people do AND they may have actually spent the time to actually reflect on their life, their decisions and compare the past with the present. Even if you disagree with an elder, it is worth listening to them just to gain an insight into another perspective and experience.

For now I think we should actively be trying to bring back older people into society - from movies, to interviews, to open shared settings and, actively, find ways to have them interact with young people in both educational and fun settings. Knowledge sharing and communication are inherently human and, just because we are young and have our fingers on the pulse, doesn’t mean we are right or have life figured out.

So, go have a chat with someone older than you - on a bus, in a cafe or out and about in the shops - you might just leave the conversation with more than what you entered it with.