Where do I even begin! Age discrimination is something that we all deal with in society, especially in today's world.
As young kids, we are all taught to respect our elders and honor the wisdom that they have to offer us. At the same time, we have to acknowledge that every generation has experiences to share, talents to show, and lessons to teach.
Older people nowadays feel as if they are caught in a world so different than the one they once knew. Technology has taken over, and no matter what people say, it isn't leaving us anytime soon. If anything it will manifest itself into an entirely new monster over the next decade.
Because of this revolution in technology, a lot of older people feel useless when it comes to modern communication and therefore millennials and Gen. Z's are strong-holding what seems to be a whole new world.
On the other hand, there is still a domination of older generations when it comes to certain topics such as political involvement, employment, financial stability, and life planning. This is, without a doubt in my mind, a problem.
Take politics for example....
We are all encourage to act on our right to vote in The United States. Younger folks tend to get scrutinized for not being as involved as middle aged and older voters.
What I see is something that goes much deeper than just voting.
There are endless commercials that encourage young voters, solicit my generation to speak up and relinquish our opinions, but in the end the older generations aren't really listening. As anyone would, they are often closed minded and stand firm in their thoughts.
It's great to know what you want and to have opinions, but in order for society to work we all have to share our opinions, life lesson, and motivations so that we can further understand each other and make the world a better place.
If the next generation of voters wants to speak up, we have to set the foundation in which we can be heard by all, not just those who we feel comfortable talking with. We ALL have to open our minds and our eyes to see that no matter the age, every individual has wisdom to spread.
The younger generations can help the older generations and the older generations can help the young generations. It goes both ways!
We have to stop patronizing people in certain regards and act as teachers, leaders, and voices for what we all know as individuals. Rather than acting as demoralizing bosses to one another, we have to act as each other's guides and beneficiaries. We, as a society have to help each other no matter if we are 80 or 8. We all have something to share with the world.
My piece of advice in this post is to look forward, spread your truth, and open yourself to learning something new from someone you might otherwise would brush off. No one is better than the person beside them. There is always more to give AND to receive.
