Being old and insisting to stay in the game of life, continuing to function in the work of the young, like they are still young – is somewhat pathetic. It does not mean that they are not capable anymore, for at times, when the president of the United States got elected at the age of 78, and in Israel, there was an actress aged 91 – age is no limit for function. The majority of people who have to retire at 67 (or 65) in some countries are very capable of working as efficiently as younger people do.
And when they have to retire – they have plenty of life left, and they don’t know what to do with it. That is also pathetic.
These people did neither mature nor grow until they reached the level of the fruit; of learning and understanding. They, during their life, did not turn the raw material of experience into the growing result of the fruit of knowledge.
But few can build a shelf above their experience during their lives. A shelf on which the fruit of the knowledge that they grew rests. And their center of gravity is being shifted during their aging – from below the shelf to above the shelf. Below the shelf is the naked experience, above the shelf – knowing about the experience.
Such an old, wise person would not like to continue to work as before. This period is over for him. All he wants now is to dedicate himself further to delve into the fruit of his knowledge and wisdom, bath in it, dwell in it, and experience great joy and uplifting.
The older he gets, the further he enters the forest of wisdom. From just experience he has shifted to observation, comprehension, and understanding, which he wishes will never end as long as he is alive.
Life experience is grape-juice, wisdom is wine.
“The unexamined life is not worth living“
Sokrates
Gabriel Raam
