Long ago, I realized that part of life would be managing my expectations. If I expected too much, I would likely be dissatisfied. If I expected a little, but received more, I would likely be pleased. I recall the story of the ill-clad, hungry man on a cold, rainy night. By chance, he stumbled upon a cabin where they took him in, gave him some warm clothes, and offered him a bowl of hot soup. At that moment he felt rich beyond measure. Meanwhile a man who has everything might complain if his luxury car has a fingerprint on it, or his toast isn’t done to his liking. Our satisfaction depends on our perspective.
We had a guest speaker in a college convocation who spoke to our students about how hard it was to impress them. He pointed out that they had led lives of relative privilege, so it took more effort to get their attention. The speaker added that he had recently visited an inner-city high school where the students were happy to listen to what he had to say.
As an aging baby boomer, I am alert, some might say “woke,” to the fact that my generation has enjoyed a certain standard of living, often at the expense of future generations. We were indoctrinated with the notion that life is supposed to be “ever onward and ever upward.” We were told to expect “progress,” meaning more advancements, more wealth, better safety, and more creature comforts. We even infected the next generation or two with the same notions, conveniently forgetting that Earth’s resources are finite and if everyone continues to draw what they want out of the planet’s piggy bank, at some point there will be no savings left.
I’m merely facing reality. My parents’ and grandparents’ generations saw the advent of indoor plumbing, hot and cold running water, refrigerators replacing ice boxes (my dad was an ice man’s helper), penicillin, the polio vaccine, jet aircraft, television, and numerous other inventions. Air conditioning began to be widely used when I was in high school. All of these have arguably made life better for millions. However, each innovation has raised our expectations. And as our expectations have risen, so have our demands on Earth’s resources – and each other! There remains the perennial problem of leaving people behind.
I reflect that at age 71, while I am still in pretty good shape, I’m a “vintage” model and entering my years of decline. Part of the reason I write is to share something of what I have learned in seven decades. I’ve already written over 150,000 words across 200 blog posts. This does not count stories, essays, and a book length homage to C.S. Lewis’ Screwtape Letters. I write to share, but I also write to maintain my sanity and keep my mind in working order. All of us elderly types need to find ways to stay sharp.
As to wisdom, I find it’s easy enough to sound wise, but difficult to be wise. Mostly, we learn about our wisdom quotient after the fact. Some things we think are good ideas turn out not to be. Other things we thought might never work out turn out to have been good ideas after all. Milan Kundera wrote about the impossibility of living two lives so that we can compare them and see which one was the best. We don’t have that privilege. All we can do is live life as it is presented to us and make the best choices we can. Still, “We get too soon old and too late smart,” as the Pennsylvania Dutch say in their charming accent.
Maybe the wisest thing I can say is, keep trying. Better days may or may not be coming by and by, but surely, we will never see them if we give up. My parents taught me to work hard. No doubt, some combination of luck and work has helped me to get this far. And I’m certain my background and skin color have provided me with numerous advantages as well. I’m reminded that many people with a lot less going for them have nevertheless persevered. I admire them. We all should. It would indeed be a wonderful world if everyone were suitably rewarded for their talent and hard work, regardless of their skin color, nationality, gender, age, or religion. But this is not the world we live in. Maybe if enough of us keep trying, we will one day live in such a world.
MurrayWorks 