Writer's Space: Young or Old, is there a difference?

Monday, February 27, 2012

Young or Old, is there a difference?

Have you ever had two different experiences but found it relayed the same message?

A month ago, I found myself working with a group of young people. By young, I mean those in their early twenties. As their age implies, they were full of life and had tons of energy. Our weekly meetings were never dull as their creative ideas often popped out of their heads as popcorn exploded out of a pan. To them, there was always something to do, some unknown path to be forged, some crazy idea to be tried out. Listening to them, I wondered what I had done with my youth and if I had done as much as they had with theirs.

Exactly a week after I finished my work with these young people, I was asked to facilitate a seminar for a group of teachers. This time, I was with two other facilitators, both old enough to be my mother! Coming from a young and hip group, I thought this one would be simpler and more low-key. Was I in for a surprise! The gray hair of my two older mentors was the only thing that made them old. They were otherwise as full of life as my younger colleagues of the previous month. They burned with passion each time it was their turn to speak. Listening to them, I felt like a schoolgirl being taught the why and how of life for the first time.

Two different experiences? Not quite, I realized after much thought. We may be young or we may be old. Life will be exactly how we program it to be. Age, in the end, doesn’t really matter. What matters is what we do with the time we are given.