The Old Wine Is Better


Just yesterday I was visiting a home for the elderly.  I met a man unexpectedly that I had known many years ago.  He was a very successful businessman.  I had forgotten that he was living there.  I found him sitting on a bench.  I walked over and knelt down beside him and we started chatting.  I reminded him that I had been out walking one morning nearly thirty years ago and saw him fully dressed headed to work at 5:00 a.m.  I told him how I had been impressed with his discipline and how it impacted my life.  Suddenly this wisdom started pouring out of him.  Just a moment earlier he was an old man whose life was behind him and now he was an old sage with life lessons coming forth like out of a fountain.  Today I am wondering how many like him there are out there.  How many solutions to our present day problems are hidden away in the treasure chests of our elderly?  Most of the time when we are working on our careers we try to find the young men and women who are walking in present success. That is a good thing.  They are doing something right or they wouldn't stand out.  Yet, if we would seek out the heroes of the past that are still living among us we might be able to add experience and wisdom to present methodology.  Just because a person is old doesn't mean they have wisdom.  Some are just old!  Yet, many more than we might think are cornucopias of answers to many of the questions you may have right now.  However, unlike the young who are more than willing to spout it out, these older ones are not always so willing.  They have been made to feel they have nothing to offer.  That means you will have to have patience as mining for gold nuggets.  Yet, I suspect you will find your labor was well worth the effort.  Give it a try!  If you think afterward that there was no reward, give it some time and you may find you were wrong.