Without a doubt, most parents want the best for their wards, yet their young ones usually do not see things their way. Children view their parents’ insistence that they eat vegetables as denying them the ‘good life’ found in candies. Teenagers view the loving directions of their parents, such as being at home by 9 PM, as an imposition on their freedom. Working youths often disregard the financial advice of their parents like setting aside some savings before spending their money.
It is only after the consequences of ignoring our parents’ wishes and not allowing them to materialise that we begin to understand that the course of life our parents attempted to set us on was the right one. As unique individuals, we are different from our parents, and as such, do not share the same talents and ambitions as theirs. As a result, our career and other life choices will not be the same as theirs.
Yet there are some principles and fundamental truths of life that transcend generations, and these are what I am referring to. Your parents know that lies don’t help you. They know, most likely from experience, that spending rather than saving will land you in debt, eating junk food will do your health no good, and marrying an ostentatious woman will leave you in trenches.
Look at it this way; compare when you were five years old to when you were ten; at which of these ages were you wiser? Ten it is, isn’t it? Now compare yourself at ten and eighteen; you were wiser at eighteen, clearly you were wiser at eighteen. So at ninety will you be wiser than you are now? Definitely yes!
Do you get the point? ‘We all learn valuable lessons of life as we age!’ Your parents, who have spent more years on Earth, have more lessons about life. Wisdom, unlike knowledge, comes with age and experience; wisdom is the application and demonstration of knowledge acquired. So open your ears and soften your heart. Absorb the wisdom of your parents.
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