One morning the husband of my friend commented, “If only we had known that our children would not take care of us in our retirement years, we should have not sent them to school and sacrificed for them so they could have better lives. We gave them the best years of our life. Now, that we need their help, all they could say is that their families are their priority and it’s up to us to take care of ourselves, even when we get sick.”
My friend remembered what her best friend said when they were still teaching in a state university, “You must not depend on your children in the future. They will have lives of their own and their families would be their priority. No matter how we parents took care of them with tender loving care, it’s not a guaranty that they would take care of us when we grow old. Hence, you must save for your retirement years.”
There was a mother who died a lonely death. When she retired, her children borrowed her lump sum retirement money. At the time that she needed the money for her hospitalization, she could not get it back for the reason that her children didn’t have money to repay her.
There are other lessons that one can learn from the elderly. Here they are as cited by the Senior Living Blog website:
• Act like you will need your body for 100 years. It’s not dying you should worry about – it’s chronic disease. Charlotte an 84-year old said, “What you do when you’re young will haunt you when you get old. If you’re young, take care of your body, live right, go to the doctor and keep yourself in good shape. Don’t abuse your body in any way, shape, or form.”
• Don’t sweat the small stuff. Things are not as important as you make them to be, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Remember that things don’t make you happy, people do.
• Exercise your patience. Be patient. Better things are coming.
• Make the most of each day. Make every day count.
• Never say “I wish…” Believe in yourself and never say “I wish I would have…” Yesterday is a memory, tomorrow is a dream and today is a present.
• Never stop growing. Always take care of yourself and never stop growing or learning.
• Save for the rainy days. Always save a portion of your paycheck, because a rainy day is sure to come.
• Spend more time with family. Love and spend as much time with your family as possible. Show how appreciative you are to have them.
• Start a bucket list. Enjoy your life, so there will be no regrets. Remember to start a bucket list early, very early.
• Try to listen to your elders. Try to listen to your elders and parents. When you are young, remember that they only want the best for you.