Engage with kindness when you are interacting with or caring for the older generations and elderly of our communities. Always approach them from a kind place in your heart.
I say this out of respect for these long-lived folks. Numerous years of experiences and acquired wisdom render their knowledge priceless.
Just as many of these souls will be soft, caring and kind towards you, so be it to them also. They have seen or experienced plenty of hardship, heartache, sadness, difficult and dark days over their time. Indulge them in warm, gentle and nice encounters.
Sadly, there will be many of these beautiful folks who live independently, still in their own homes. Rarely do they have a visitor grace their doorstep. Many are alone and lonely.
The younger among us, ashamedly to say, may carry less patience and compassion than is helpful when having an elderly person live with us. We can be less tolerant of their repetitiveness, slowness and ways.
Imagine though, their frustrations and heartache at no longer having their own independence to be able to get out of the house, to engage in social outings, to even go to the shop to buy what they would like or to merely have a friend call in for a chat. Not to mention that they have loved ones lost, belongings lost, neighbours lost and almost all they had worked their life for, all but gone.
Instead now, they are reliant upon others and often must fit in with their timetables and tastes in food and TV programs. They lose their voice; they have no option but to comply or live a miserable life if they resist.
I know this is not always the scenario for the elderly in our communities however it is prevalent that these souls are not always treated with kindness, compassion, respect and appreciation.
They were patient when the younger generations were young tots, learning the ways of the world. Now it is our turn to be patient with them and kind to them, as the wheels of time take them back to a state of dependence upon loved ones and carers.
Engage with kindness; everyone benefits.
Image credit: Sabine van Erp from Pixabay
If you missed last week’s installment of ‘Thought of the Week’, you can read it here: Injustice to Ourselves
A recent poem I wrote about the way of a gentleman can be found here: The Gentleman