Lifes Lessons Learned

      Sometimes while reading Social media posts, I am reminded of something Mark Twain once said; and, truth told, on some days, many things he said. The observation in question goes something like this: “When I was twelve, I thought my father the stupidest man I’d ever met. By the time I had reached twenty- one, I was amazed at how much the old man had learned!”

       On this occasion there is no one particular instance in mind, but over twenty years of teaching high school and parenting and yes, grandparenting, instances have reminded me of Twain’s wisdom. It isn’t uncommon to see earnest young people decry the ignorance or (insert favorite pejorative descriptor here) of “older people” when waxing enthusiastic or offended about a particular issue. It seems to go along with the territory on the way to maturity.

        I am often tempted to point out to these delightfully naïve (sometimes) youngsters two salient facts:

Fact the first: “No one is born with the wisdom which comes from experience and maturity. You can’t buy it, or even rent it for a bit. You have to slog through the swamp that life can sometimes be.  You have to live through the process, and even then, there are adults to whom it seems never to have “stuck.”  (perhaps not enough mud, too much riding on someone else’s back?)  I would offer recent tweets by POTUS as evidence of the latter.   

       Fact the second: No one has ever been born and gone directly to age thirty. No one. Ever. This physical fact means that every adult has been an infant, child, and teen; all of ‘em - even your parents and grandparents. It doesn’t mean they’re always right, but it does mean, that a whiny, “You can’t understand” is probably incorrect. What their response may well mean is “Yes, I can, and I caution you or reject the idea because I know from experience that it’s fraught with peril.”
 In the words of the late Brian Dennehy, “At some point, life will sink its fangs in the back of your neck and shake the s--- out of you.”

To reiterate, this is not based on any recent episode in my life, rather just on a long time here on the water planet.