Age Brings Years, Not Always Wisdom

Growing up, our one value I was raised to apply in my life all the time was to respect the elders. No matter what the did, the older person was always right in every situation. There were days when older people wronged me or disrespected me and I had to watch it and let it slide because the older person is always right.

Growing up in an African home, this was a normal thing. They always told us that when we also grow old, children would also respect us and not question our actions and inactions. Funny enough, now that I’m older, I still meet people who are also older than me doing the same thing. Honestly, when they say age is just a number it actually is. Because someone being grown or old doesn’t mean they have common sense or a sense of reasoning to know that what they are doing is wrong or shouldn’t be done.

At my age, I really don’t have to tolerate what people do no matter their age or who they are. Because now, I’m older and I always have the choice to either walk away or tolerate you. I meet so many old people who are not matured and this is one very good example. I have this colleague who I may sometime ago. We didn’t click immediately but soon enough we got quite close because we had to work together all the time. As we started hanging out with each other, I realized this person was old but not mature.

This person should be in their late thirties but when I tell you they act like a child, believe it. Talk about taking anyhow without even giving it a second thought, doing stuff that would obviously offend the other party and so may things I can’t even mention. It was getting out of hand because each time it happened, I would just tell myself that no one is perfect but soon enough I realized this person didn’t have common sense and wisdom.

At the end of the day, I had to advise myself to take a step back because I was not about to lose my mind for someone who clearly isn’t ready to grow and act mature. Today, I’m in my lane and they’re in theirs most of the time. Age is really not maturity but just a number.

---

all images belong to me.

---