December 22, 2007

How old are your friends

It is often said that birds of a feather flock together. We choose our friends who have similar likes and dislikes as us, and who, in all probability, are in the same age group as us. This is quite natural, and happens without any conscious thinking on our part. But what I feel is that every one should try and have friends of all ages.

Growing up is a weird process. We can never understand what it is like to be 30, when we are 20. And when we are 30, we wish we had known at 20 what we know then. Mark Twain said that if at twenty someone does not want to change the world, he has no heart, and if at 30, he still wants to change the world he has no brain. That is so true.

But to be truly smart, one has to find the right balance between the heart and the brain; between the maturity that comes from age, and the vigour that characterises youth. And to do that, it is a good idea to have friends of different age groups, because humans learn best by example. We can be told stories and incidents, but nothing affects us like something that we have seen with our own eyes.

So, by constant interaction with people of different ages , we are constantly reminded of what has been, what is, and what will be. This reminder keeps us from being too sure of ourselves just because we are young, or from dwelling on the past too much just because a lot of years have passed us by.

Don't you agree? Do you have friends of all ages, or are most of your friends your age?

4 comments:

SandyCarlson said...

Neo,
Good point. Most of my friends are older, actually. Others are cousins my age or a little older. and kids. Being between kids and older folks is a great thing! God bless.

Paulie said...

I agree wholeheartedly with your premise. I learn from those older than me and those younger than me learn from me Yes, my friends are of all ages. One memory I have is listening to my grandfather tell how he settled in the US when he came from Germany. He has been gone a long time now but I still remember listening to his stories as a child.

Happy BYB Sunday!

Susan Demeter said...

Most of our friends are through our group PSICAN that Matthew and I co-founded. The group is made up of all different age groups and cultural backgrounds so we do have a wide variety of friends.

Great points and Happy BYB Sunday!

Unknown said...

lol. i like Mark Twain's quote:
"if at twenty someone does not want to change the world, he has no heart, and if at 30, he still wants to change the world he has no brain."

reminds me as well of the robbie williams song that "youth is wasted on the young"

more around my age +/- 5years although blogging has made the boundaries much less obvious thru the blogging word

still i can name quite a few friends who have quite a lot of friends who are very significantly older than them

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