The most basic question we must ask ourselves as we get older is, are we providing a nurturing environment for younger people, or are we competing with them for attention and control?

(It would probably be a good idea here for the reader to contemplate the difference between the concepts of Management and Control. Management requires that we respect that which we are managing. Control does not.)

This does not only apply to our own children and grandchildren. It applies to everyone in our community. We all have a role to play in our communities, even if we do not know all of the people we impact directly.

How we dress and behave, the goals we pursue and how we go about pursuing them, are all expressions of our role in a community. Together, they make up our identity. If an older generation competes with a younger one by crowding their space, then that younger generation gets confused and frustrated. The young, in turn, tend to take things to an extreme in an effort to shake their elders off their back. It is these extremes that hurt the sustainability of a community.

If our community is to grow in a healthy, sustainable way, we must allow our identity to evolve; to grow and mature. This is not to say that we must relegate ourselves to a rocking chair on the front porch. But, it does mean that it is our responsibility to put in the extra effort to do things in a way that nurtures, and does not compete with, younger people…. in every little thing that we do.

It is true that we should not allow younger people to control our lives, or anyone for that matter, but it is much easier for older people to defend themselves and their territory from younger people. Especially if older people put in the effort to act their age.

The older we get, the more we must work, the more effort we must put in to playing our role. It never stops. There is no point that a person does not have to work anymore. (Adaptation away from competition takes far more effort than adaptation through competition.)

The measure of a person’s maturity and civility is the effort they make.

Evolution proceeds like an echelon. If the front ranks falter because they want to be a part of what is behind them, then the whole system comes apart.