Dear senior citizen
Dear senior citizen, here is a communiqué to you from me, coming from the depths of my heart.
Consider these words not as an ordinary letter that is rigid and legalistic, but as a spirit that is transformative and guarantees inward change.
I have myself desired a similar note from any well-meaning guide for my edification since people started referring to me as a senior citizen.
When I was much younger, I loved the term “senior citizen” because it implied maturity and solicited respect.
I later discovered that maturity, wisdom and respect do not automatically accompany seniority.
Instead, like wisdom, they are earned, cultivated and graciously bestowed by God.
To God, therefore, our profound gratitude for the reference to us as senior citizens.
Experience counts
Experience counts, of course, and that is where being senior requires you to give thought to every experience we go through.
As the best teacher, experience has a lot to offer us as a reminder.
The more years we accumulate, the larger our storehouse of experiences to fall on for noble use.
As one quotation states, “Experience is the ultimate teacher, transforming mistakes into wisdom and knowledge into action.
It is the accumulation of life's lessons, shaping your perspective and guiding your personal growth.”
While some experiences are directly beneficial, others aren’t, and it's up to every senior citizen to turn every life event to their advantage rather than moan about it.
Growing old
“Senior citizen” is a respectable substitute term for “old man” or “old woman”.
But I know one senior who detests being called “grandpa” because, as he put it, that label makes him appear too old.
This attitude is surprising. Shouldn’t it rather be a matter of pride and joy to have little children refer to us as “grandpa” or “grandma”? Just think about the word “grand” with its synonyms, such as outstanding, impressive, imposing, majestic and splendid.
Therefore, “Pa” or “Ma” is a father or a mother who is grand; that is, wonderful, fantastic, great, celebrated and distinguished.
Rather than detest being called grandfather or grandmother, embrace and enjoy it as an honour, not a dishonour.
The sages say that “growing old gracefully is a deeply personal journey, but the desire to find meaning and peace in the later years is universally relatable.”
In other words, everybody should seek meaning and peace as we age.
Seeking peace
Senior citizenship moments are not the time to engage in long arguments or express strong opinions.
They can take our peace away.
Rather, this is the time to be sober, more gentle and not give in to stressful opinions and quarrelling.
Peace is “a state of harmony, balance and freedom from disturbance.”
By all means, disturbances will come sliding under the door, intending to possess you, but you must not allow them to gain a foothold in your life.
Every time we engage in long and fruitless disputes, we become spiritually dehydrated and unhappy.
Extended disagreements and long talks are particularly unhealthy for seniors.
This is because sagging bodies, wobbling knees and an overworked heart do not support unnecessary controversy.
Therefore, dear senior citizen, I hope you have not joined the never-ending contentions surrounding political players.
Listening to them in Parliament, on the radio, and at press conferences may be entertaining, but be wise and refrain from engaging in their verbal combat, which only breeds tension.
Good old days
Not every senior citizen can talk about or think about the so-called “good days” of the past.
Nostalgic memories of long ago make those days seem good, but they were not entirely good.
Take away the nostalgia and what is left are the bare facts of what happened, which would be devoid of the supposed goodness.
Hence, Scripture warns us not to long for the "good old days" because that can distract us from appreciating what God is doing today.
We are rather encouraged to remember the past to learn lessons and thank God for his faithfulness towards us.
One of those faithful deeds is God's watching over us into our senior-citizen days.
When the Israelites were suffering under the heavy burden of their slave masters and kept on calling on God to deliver them, they didn’t see those times as good.
But years later, when they were in the wilderness, they forgot their former hardships and their current blessings about God delivering them from slavery and leading them to the Promised Land.
They experienced the “bad old days,” but by forgetting God’s goodness towards them, they felt nostalgic and missed the delicacies they used to eat, which was why they longed for those terrible days.
Dear senior citizen, let the privilege of being a senior override the challenges that come with it.
Next week, when we return to this subject, we will explore other exciting senior citizen issues to enlighten us.
The writer is a publisher, author, writer-trainer and CEO of Step Publishers.
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