PAUL MCGOWAN
It is said that with age comes wisdom. I am not convinced that is entirely true.
Wisdom implies better judgment in the decision making department and I’ve seen scant evidence of us older people making better decisions.
I make just as many wrong turns today as I did in the past. I just don’t repeat as many mistakes.
One positive characteristic of age I have noticed is a greater tolerance for one-sided arguments.
The fire to prove one right at the expense of all other viewpoints seems to burns less brightly when the days ahead are fewer than those behind.
Perhaps it is more appropriate to suggest that with age comes greater patience and tolerance.
I understand that when your experience does not match my own there forms a vacuum—one we seem desperate to fill by any means possible.
Why is it that we’re so convinced that what we see must be the same as what everyone else should see?
I am guessing that in our younger days we find it of critical importance to find approval for our worldview. After all, if our worldview is wrong, maybe we are wrong or don’t fit in.
As we age it becomes clear we’ve made it this far, so perhaps we do fit in.
And that experience leads to greater tolerance for other viewpoints.
