As a teenager, I knew everything.

I had life figured out and calculated the trajectory of my entire career, starting with the day after I graduated high school until the moment I retired. It was plainly obvious.

My parents did their best to instill their lifetime (at that time) of wisdom into me, but what did they know? They were immigrants who came to the country with nothing, built a life, raised four kids and sent them all to university so we could graduate debt free. Like they could teach me anything, right?

They were still living in the old country and still had that old mentality that was no longer relevant.

“You’re old fashioned!
You don’t understand!
Life’s not like that anymore.
Things have changed!”

Now, as I watch a younger generation under my care, facing the same problems I faced (although the circumstances may be different), I wonder how my parents had so much patience.

In fact, I wonder how any previous generation has so much patience for a younger one.

Part of it comes, as I’ve learned, in watching them make choices you know will be mistakes. While hoping for the best, the learning comes from stepping back and being patient with the results.

It’s through this, I’ve learned to ignore advice from those who have not lived the experience for more than twenty years. They just don’t have the patience of thinking long-term and seeing the bigger picture.

The payoff is exponentially larger that way, but there are few who are willing to seek that long-term advice.

Thus, we have a generation of wise people who go untapped and continue to be patient while we continue to make the same mistakes.