Senior Quotes
Someone once said “Laugh and the world laughs with you; cry and you cry alone”. Some might have took the comment as rude sarcasm while others might have realized what it was trying to say is to take life a little less seriously. It’s interesting when you think about it, my grandparents and their parents were married for decades and although they lived through wars and the Great Depression they remained optimistic and moved forward. Yet today, the world seems to fall apart around us and divorce is a household phrase.
Seniors have been making us laugh for centuries with their curious quotations. For instance, Mae West said this of marriage, “Marriage is a great institution and I’m not ready for an institution.” It wasn’t that she was implying that one should never get married it was simply her lighthearted way of looking at the concept. While we’re on the subject of marriage I must say this, “No man is truly married until he understands every word his wife is NOT saying.” The man who said that definitely had some married years under his belt.
Grandparents didn’t seem to have the same technique of conflict that we see today. Name calling, put downs, and bad memories seem to be incorporated into every spat that goes on between young couples in our recent world. When did we become such a bitter society? I don’t have the answer but I do know this, if we knew the secret to our grandparents’ dispositions we’d certainly value relationships more. I could imagine my grandparents having a squabble over a subject, let’s say parenting, and my grandfather saying something like this, “Not only do I not know what’s going on, but I wouldn’t know what to do about it if I did.” Who could really be angry with him? It’s that lighthearted approach that is likely to have kept them married all those years.
Jealousy is one of the hugest factors in relationships today. I don’t recall ever seeing my grandparents jealous and this may be why, “Don’t worry about avoiding temptation, as you get older, it will avoid you.” Money is another peeve in the relationship of couples today. Constant arguing over the lack of it often destroys couples. Seniors have the right idea. Their philosophy is this, “Money can’t buy you happiness but it does bring you a more pleasant form of misery.” This quote is like many our elders have spoken, it’s funny but true. We look for happiness in all the wrong places and our expectations are too high. We’ve gone far beyond the satisfaction of a rose and a box of chocolate. Maybe we’ve just gotten spoiled or maybe we’ve become greedy either way it hasn’t made us very happy. Our way of living has become so fast paced that it happens without our realization. We need to learn to relax and breathe again then maybe we’ll develop the wit of our grandparents. If we can’t dedicate ourselves to change perhaps we should follow the advice of Mae West and not commit ourselves to an institution.
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