It goes without saying that that the older generation is wiser, at any given stage, as they have already gone through a whole lot of life experiences. After all, the saying goes that it is the experience that makes a man (or a woman). The seniors get to this stage, purely by having lived longer than the younger generation. The age in itself is an essential qualification, and they would have already seen the issues, hassles, the changing times, the generation gaps, the technological advances, etc. that come with passing time. Hence, there is no better teacher or coach in life than our seniors, who can share their experiences with us.
Pearls of wisdom
It is true that most of the younger generation, whether your children or grandchildren, may not take the advice seriously. At times, they may even think of what you are saying as interfering or offensive. This is where you can use your experience to handle things efficiently.
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Advice should mostly be shared where and when it is needed in a somewhat tactful way and not in general, day after day, like a litany. However, the wisdom that you have gained throughout can be shared with the youngsters in a much more constructive way.
You could tell stories or share experiences as a story, in such a way that the young can pick up the message from what you are saying. One of the biggest lessons of life that you can impart would perhaps be to say, “This too shall pass.” The younger generation is slightly impatient, expects results in a jiffy, and may get a bit thrown off when things don’t go their way. As elders, you can point out your experiences to convince them that there are always solutions to issues; that it may take time and patience to work things out, etc.
Lessons to pass on
Another valuable lesson that you can pass on the younger generation could how; they can learn something from everyone, whether older or younger, good or bad. Have you lived with lesser means, and still made it count, then please make sure to mention the same as well. There is no telling when they may have to pull such wisdom to get going.
If you have moved out of your comfort zones and made a career or life, then that can be passed on too to convince them that it is important to do that to learn and grow. Most of all pass on the importance of taking accountability for their actions, and picking up and maintaining a few values like honesty, integrity, respect for all, etc. and how they should never compromise on these. All these things can be shared as part of your family time as stories to which they can easily relate to, without it feeling as though you are forcing some advice on them.
Make it count
The bottom line of sharing experiences with the younger generation is that they should be above to benefit from it and not make the same mistakes. It is, of course, imperative that there will be life situations where they will make mistakes, despite all the best lessons. However, the idea is to make your experience count so that they can at least avoid many of the mistakes that you ended up doing. So, please do not hold back, and start telling those stories. Better still, if you can, please start a blog, so that many other people can benefit from it.
