American Daughter Media Center - The Wisdom of Elders

How Would You Answer These Questions?

As you look back over the years, how do you feel about your life? Any regrets? Anything you missed out on that you would liked to have done? Is there anything you would do differently if you had it to do over again?

Howard (80): At present I feel very good about my life. My life was not always pleasant growing up during the depression era. I have many regrets. I missed out on a good family upbringing.

As a youngster I was never self-confident about anything due to the many hardships that occurred. My level of confidence changed many years later. I never had a mentor or any other person to guide me through my young life.

My dream and ambition was to grow up and have a good education, find a lovely wife with whom I could have children and make sure the children had a much better life than I. All of my dreams have come true in my later years.

Harry (85): I feel very good about my life. I am healthy and living at the age of eighty-five, have a loving wife of 58 years and three very nice, attractive daughters. I live in one of the best places in the United States, one of the most well endowed and prosperous countries in the world. I have many friends and all of the money that I need, a lot more than I ever expected to have.

Sure, I missed out on a few things. I wish that I had been able to take up golf and other sports at an earlier age. And that I had learned to play a musical instrument. I’m happy with the career path that I followed. I wish that I had had the chance to go on to get a Masters Degree at Harvard or some other well regarded business school.

I wasn’t all that self-confident when I was a young boy. All of the teasing that I got from the twin brothers who immediately preceded me tended to undermine my self confidence. However, my ability to do well in school gave me self confidence as I grew up and my ability to get jobs when they were hard to get during the depression of the nineteen thirties supported my level of confidence after I grew up.

I had no one to serve as a mentor, as no one in my family or even relatives, had gone on to college before me. Like many other children, I dreamed of becoming President of the United States when I grew up, but that didn’t happen, luckily. Other than that, I achieved almost all of my dreams and was glad to do so.