Age and Wisdom

So I am 25 now.  A quarter of a century.  The silver anniversary of being in a loving relationship with life.  Me and that asshole have our ups and downs, but I like him enough to stay with him I guess.  So I stick with my vows.  Til death do us part and all that shit, right?  

I like helping people.  As I get older, I find it easier and easier.  For the more experience I have to draw from, the easier it is to empathize and summon just the right quote or helpful bit of insight needed to make someone's day.  For this reason, I idolize age.  It yields experience, wisdom, and the ability to help more.  In a way, I idolize pain for this same reason, but that is not my purpose in speaking today.  

I am speaking today to talk about how our society does the opposite or revering age.  We dye our hair and use creams to make ourselves appear younger.  We speak of accomplishments and comment on how amazing it is when they are done at a younger age.  We taboo relationships with those older than us, instead seeking sanctuary in a homogenized peer group that all have the same problems and lack of experience to know how to solve them.  

I wish to see a world where my stylist will help give me a touch of grey so that I look like I am in my 40s  instead of approaching my 30s.  For age, to me, is a marker of wisdom.  We do not become useless when we are old as our society shoves down our throats.  We may lose the physical prowess of our youth, but we gain something so much more powerful, the ability to light the way for the lost and the confused.  

To all those older and wiser than me who have helped light my path to age and to wisdom, thank you.  I needed you more than I can say.  As I grow older, I only wish that I will be able to do for others what you have done for me.  The great cycle continues-- thanks to you.