During a nice chat I had with a younger woman, something very profound occurred to me. She was saying that women her age are desperate for mentoring by mature women. We talked about the perceived barriers to this mentoring relationship when I was struck by the very nature of what she was asking for.
I grew up under the slogan Never Trust Anyone Over 30. It never would have entered my mind to ask a mature women to mentor me. I thought mentoring was like CEO's helping young executives become "team worthy." Other than my mom or a trusted aunt, I didn't really relate to the "wisdom" thing that comes with age. I just thought older people were, well, out of touch with us young, hip things. I mean they were about aprons and World War II. We were about briefcases and the Peace Corps. What could we possibly learn from them?
And then I became one of them. I came to understand that wisdom comes from living life. Most young people haven't lived enough life to gain wisdom ~ despite all the head knowledge they gained in school. It's just not the same.
What's even cooler, is women of my generation are rediscovering the beauty and value of wisdom ~ their life wisdom. Every generation has something to offer the generations rising up behind them. It's both for individual benefit and a culture's collective wisdom.
And what's even cooler, is that with this coming together of generations, we "mature" people also have something to gain ~ a vivid remembrance of our youthful exuberance, a revitalizing of a can-do attitude, even a more youthful step in our walk.
It's a beautiful thing. Over 30 rocks!
God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. (1 Kings 4:29)
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. - Psalm 90:12
Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, - Proverbs 3:13
My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, - Proverbs 5:1
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