10 Life Lessons From Our Elders That Still Ring True
With age comes wisdom, they say. But to a young person, advice from older generations can feel a bit absurd until life throws them enough curveballs.
These are some classic pieces of “old people” advice that people often think are funny when they’re young until they realize just how true the advice is.
1: From a Parent
Gretchen Rubin famously wrote, “The days are long, but the years are short.” Most parents can relate to this; long nights with kids who won’t sleep appear neverending. But before parents know it, they look back and wonder in awe about how those years went by so fast.
2: Catch Up
“Everything catches up to you” is a phrase without an apparent author, but one that many Americans have heard. Often, when they’re stuffing their face full of pizza and dessert.
While one’s younger self thinks they know it all and their body will remain slim and with taught skin forever, reality often paints a different picture.
3: Too Bad
The old saying, “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is,” is advice many young people dismiss. However, most older Americans know what it feels like to get burned by something that once sounded great.
When finances or the heart is involved, the truth is all the harder to swallow.
4: Rose-Colored Glasses
When people are fresh out of college, they may see their new employer through rose-colored glasses. However, they may forget the bottom line: No matter how great the employee is, a company only has an employee’s back if it’s in their financial interest.
This is Business 101, no matter how harsh it may sound. People new to the workforce often find out just how true it is with time or even after starting their own business.
5: Time Perceptions
“The older you get, the faster time goes by” is a concept that many younger people hear but don’t believe. Nevertheless, there’s science indicating it’s true.
Professor Adrian Bejan at Harvard University theorizes that the reason time appears to go faster as we age is that the rate grownups perceive visual information slows. By doing so, it actually speeds up our perception of time.
6: Look Away and Listen
Young people might laugh off advice from older people saying to marry someone for their personality, not their looks. But as many married folk can attest to, this piece of advice holds true decades into a marriage.
Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder. But even then, wrinkles and other changes to the body naturally happen with age.
7: Turn the Volume Down
“Don’t listen to music so loud” is a common piece of advice kids hear from their parents. But as those kids enter middle age, they often regret not heeding their parents’ advice.
Listening to music too loudly can literally be a fatal scenario for hair cells in a person’s ear, contributing to hearing loss.
8: Think Again
“Don’t worry what other people think about you” is easier said than done, especially when a young student is trying to fit in at school.
However, as decades pass, many grownups realize it’s not worth the effort to change themselves to avoid people thinking negatively about them. Live and let live.
9: Midnight Troubles
The saying “Nothing good happens after midnight” can feel like older generations are trying to wreck a good time for younger folks.
But in reality, many older people learn to love crawling into bed by 10:00 pm, and there are statistics to back up the claim that bad things happen after (or at) midnight. According to FBI data, violent crime is most likely to occur at midnight.
10: Job Security
Try telling a teenager or someone in their young twenties that the most attractive man is one with a steady job, and they’ll likely laugh. However, the saying that “The most attractive person is one with a 9-5 job” often rings true the older a person gets.
14 Things Americans Realize as They Get Older
Some people fear aging, but at least one good thing often comes with it: The wisdom not to do things that sound like a good idea but aren’t. These are some of the valuable lessons many Americans have learned once they have several decades under their belts.
14 Things Americans Realize as They Get Older
24 Old-Fashioned Candies That Need To Make a Comeback
From childhood classics to forgotten chocolates, these treats bring back memories of simpler times. Rediscover the joy of beloved confections that deserve to make a comeback.
