What are the characteristics that help us enjoy our old age? George Valliant says that the best stage to fit us for old age is generativity with gratitude. Generativity is the stage usually associated with middle age. The time when a person wants to pass on the things he or she has found exciting or interesting. Teachers get this early and the rest of us start, maybe, with our own kids. Teaching a skill or a profession is a way of passing on the things you've learned.
I remember when my husband would start planting the garden in the spring. He usually had 2 or 3 of the kids at his heels. He would lay out the rows and assign one to put the onions in the holes or the seeds in the trench. I did it too, when I took some kites on a windy day and we went out to see what we could fly.
Generativity is available in every activity. It's better if it is a life affirming task. I liked to teach people to make bread. Another word for this is mentoring. It is a more personal form of teaching. It's not telling you how to do it, but showing you how and enjoying the results. The one who is learning gets to show off his skill and the mentor gets to show off the learner. Relationships develop too.
Find someone to mentor and enjoy getting to watch a new generation learn how to excel in your field. Don't forget to be grateful for what you have learned and those who mentored you.
There is a stage beyond Generativity called Keeper of the Meaning. That comes when you have moved from mentoring one or two people to forming a club or foundation to carry on the activity.
I remember when my husband would start planting the garden in the spring. He usually had 2 or 3 of the kids at his heels. He would lay out the rows and assign one to put the onions in the holes or the seeds in the trench. I did it too, when I took some kites on a windy day and we went out to see what we could fly.
Generativity is available in every activity. It's better if it is a life affirming task. I liked to teach people to make bread. Another word for this is mentoring. It is a more personal form of teaching. It's not telling you how to do it, but showing you how and enjoying the results. The one who is learning gets to show off his skill and the mentor gets to show off the learner. Relationships develop too.
Find someone to mentor and enjoy getting to watch a new generation learn how to excel in your field. Don't forget to be grateful for what you have learned and those who mentored you.
There is a stage beyond Generativity called Keeper of the Meaning. That comes when you have moved from mentoring one or two people to forming a club or foundation to carry on the activity.
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