96-Year-Old Man Says If You Can Do These 3 Things Even When The World Feels Hopeless, ‘You Are Doing Life Right’
We could all benefit from some wisdom from our elders every now and then.
simplystocker | Shutterstock With rising political tensions and an endless stream of bad news, it would be perfectly natural to feel depressed and wonder what’s coming next. One Gen X man had the opportunity to get the perspective of someone who’s been alive for almost a century, and it changed everything for him. He took to Reddit to share what he learned.
While the world feels particularly hopeless right now, each generation has faced its own set of struggles that felt insurmountable. Sometimes, if we look to those previous generations that have already lived through the chaos, we can find meaning again.
If you can do these 3 things even when the world feels hopeless, 'you are doing life right.'
A man shared his experience in Reddit’s r/GenX forum in the hopes of inspiring others the same way that his nearly 100-year-old new friend inspired him.
“I was at the hospital today,” he explained. “While waiting for the doctor I got [to] talking to a 96-year-old man.”
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The pair began to discuss all the uncertainty in the world today, and the older man had some interesting thoughts to share.
“We were talking about how things seem so messed up and scary,” he continued. “He said, ‘Do you know we said the same things to our grandparents? We created the bomb and we had to go to war and see things and do horrible things. Every generation thought theirs surely would be the last. World War I, the Civil War, it goes back to the very beginning of our history.’”
The younger man asked the older one to share some advice, and his words may just change your life. “I said, ‘What do we do?’” he wrote. “He simply said, ‘If you can go to bed each day knowing you did three things, you are doing life right. Make someone smile, help someone and learn something new.’”
The 96-year-old man’s advice changed the younger man's perspective.
The man concluded, “I told him while talking to him he achieved all three with me. He said, ‘Then I have done my job,’ and smiled. It has been rolling around in my head since. Just wanted to share.” The Reddit post has over 8,000 upvotes and more than 250 comments.
“I just reset my goals for tomorrow,” one person said, to which another responded, “WE just reset our goals for tomorrow.”
Another commenter shared how the elderly man’s thoughts made them nostalgic. “My grandpa used to say that,” they said. “He would be over 100 now. Helping others is really the key to having a meaningful and happy life. You can usually accomplish all three by doing that.”
There’s a lot we can learn from our elders.
In the fast-paced world we live in, the elderly are often overlooked. Not only is this disrespectful, but it also means we’re all missing out on a wealth of knowledge. David Romanelli, author of "Life Lessons from the Oldest & Wisest," explained to Stanford Medicine News Center, “When you talk to older people, you realize that they’ve all been through hard times.” Romanelli said that this is “a great reminder that you’re going to go through dark winters in your own life, too.”
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One of the people he interviewed for the book was 94-year-old Rose Lindbergh, who lived through the Holocaust. At age 14, she lost her family while imprisoned in a concentration camp. “With my own family, I hear them talking that they have issues,” she said. “I will say, ‘You don’t even know what an issue is.’”
Troubled times are a recurring theme throughout history, and they’re something that everyone is touched by, some more than others. By talking to those who have already lived through those hard events, you can gain some perspective as you face your own challenges and be reminded of what really matters.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
