"Wisdom does not necessarily come with age. Sometimes age shows up all by itself". Tom Wilson

It didn't really dawn on me for awhile, the reason I chose this particular quote, but I just knew it rang a bell - touched something in me. It's only now, like, what? a week later that it hit me.

In life, I have tried to pay attention. Not necessarily in school but definitely in day-to-day life. And, interestingly enough, I have spent a lot of time around people a lot older than I and, believe you me, this quote makes a lot of sense.

Not only is there a great deal to learn from older adults about history, because, HELLO, they lived through it,but there is also a great deal to learn from them with respect to finding our more about ourselves and how to live a joyful life.

Here's the secret. Our life doesn't change unless we take on the responsibility of changing it. Okay, yes, the only thing constant IS change; however, we can either allow change to happen to us, or we can be an active participant in the process.

For example, when comparing my peers with older adults, I learned, once a victim, always a victim. A victim at 22, is a victim at 72, unless the individual questions their own behavior. In other words, takes charge of his or her life by doing some "inner" work facing the challenges of the unknown.

Now, I realize this doesn't come about in a happy go lucky kind of way, because something usually has had to have gone awry in someone's childhood for them to go through life as a victim. Maybe they actually were a victim of child or sexual abuse or maybe they come from a family of victims. Mom and dad weren't happy, in charge of their lives, kinda people so they then passed the same character traits on to their children and so on and so on and so on etcetera, etcetera etcetera.

The key factor, and I repeat the key factor is the willingness of those of us who have "crossed over", so to speak, to talk about and share our experiences and journey creating connections with those who have no clue and, potentially, aren't even aware it could benefit them to be on one. And that's not to say it has to be done in a formal, Power Point presentation way; it's the willingness to be open and vulnerable in-the-moment that has the power to lead onlookers toward professional assistance if need be.

Grateful is the best way for me to describe how I feel about the older individuals in my life who, through their knowledge, determination, strengths and weaknesses, gave me an opportunity to connect and learn about mine where I realized the joy is in the journey!