Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Seniors and the mass of knowledge they could share through blogging.

Seniors and the mass of knowledge they could share through blogging by David Sullivan.



Everyone knows someone who is opinionated. I myself am very opinionated. I also have a drive or desire to learn. This need sends me on educational journeys daily. Some days I research card games, other days I'm captivated by space exploration. Because of my desire to learn I have amassed a wealth of general knowledge.

Believe it or not there are many thousands of knowledgeable people that collect and store libraries full of information and never get the chance to share it. Would you not agree that if they would simply host a blog, the rest of the world could better themselves from their knowledge.

My wife has recently approached me about working with senior citizens. She used to volunteer in a senior care home. Many times a week she would take whole afternoons to read to them, share with them, do crafts with them, sing with them and even teach them and help them to use computers for emailing relatives. I wonder how many seniors, if given the opportunity, would enjoy sharing their stories through blogs.

Could you imagine the quality of blogs we would begin to see. I don't know about you, but my grandmother was an incredibly picky lady when it came to grammar and proper use of language. She could always catch us with old famous rules like, "Aint Aint a word" or never end a sentence with the word "ones". To this day, I see her influence in my work.

Another wonderful thing about seniors is their flare for romance. Now, I'm not turning mushy here. Hear me out. I have had the pleasure of working as an in home care aid for a senior couple. The gentleman had a stroke. He was paralyzed on one side of his body. However; his mind and memories were mostly intact. I would spend hours listening to him tell me stories about when he was a young man. You could feel his passion when he spoke about his darling wife and how they came to be married. You could almost hear the music when he told the story about meeting her at a social, now we call them dances. He could tell a tale that would capture your imagination. He fought in World War II. He and his wife raised 5 very beautiful, intelligent church going daughters, who in turn all married and raise families. At one time in his life he was an Olympic speed skater for Canada.

As a young man with a desire for a family and a rich life of my own I was inspired by this man and his history. In a world where the toughest survive, this man, this pillar, taught me that tough comes in many forms. You don't have to be the biggest or the smartest or even the meanest. You must be willing to carry on. Persistence is the key to survival. Set a goal. Visualize the goal. Never take your eyes off the prize.

His advice to me I will pass on to you. Be you young man or woman the advice is the same. Set your goals, chase your goals and let nothing stop you from achieving your goals. Do this with a good heart. Be honest and hardworking. Be creative and innovative if you must. Have integrity, character and above all else, love. It has taken me many years to understand exactly what he was trying to teach me. Now at the age of 34, with my wonderful wife and our astounding children I can honestly say, I believe I understand.

To bring my points together, we have an abundance of seniors. These seniors have thousands of chapters in their personal stories. All too often seniors can be overlooked and forgotten. If we could help them to voice their tales to the world through blogging, we could accomplish two wonderful things. one, we could add purpose and encourage the feelings of need in our elders. Second we could tap the untold depths of ancient wisdom. Maybe just maybe, someday one of those untold stories may appear on the top of a Google search page just in time to inspire one of our many youths.

My name is David Sullivan and I put this challenge to you.
Find a place or person that could use this information and start them on their journey.
Read and reread this article. Let it inspire you to go and make a difference in someones life, today.

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