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Originally posted by gardener:
I give the Internet credit for having created a place where similar interests bring together people that otherwise are of different generations. Generational differences do not vanish, but they are downplayed, partly because communication between us takes places largely in words on a screen, sans body language, voice timbre, and visual clues as to age. Some things can transcend differences of age.
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I have found that exercise does indeed create friendships that would probably never be forged otherwise. One of my very good friends is a 56 year old Jewish woman who I met in some spin and bootcamp classes. The lady is one of my fitness heroes, hanging with people 20 and 30 years younger than her. She recently completed her first triathlon and placed in her age category. She works diligently to get better, and I am amazed at her results. Normally she and I would probably never have occasion to develop a friendship. Now we have each other on our cell phones speed dial and ride bikes together once a week, and talk a lot during those rides, exchanging ideas and life experiences. We often comment on how we would never have met each other without the love of exercise.
Quote:
Originally posted by gardener:
But I don’t think greater age necessarily means greater wisdom, anymore than I think that higher levels of formal education imply greater intelligence. All I know is that at 68 I know what it’s like to be 17 or 23 or 40, but that at age 17 I had no idea what it would be like to be 68.
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I guess that would be true, but experience certainly often leads to wisdom. My elderly neighbor in a wheelchair with no legs and a colostomy bag is a great source of historical information in her stories, and talking with her allows me to put the world and how it has changed in perspective.
Also, I was brought up to respect age and experience (maybe I was the last generation to have been taught this trait?
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