http://voices.yahoo.com/taking-time-others-ideas-summer-308335.html?cat=72
" Taking Time for Others: Ideas for Summer"
People need a purpose or something to do with their life, especially our children. And people do not like to be forgotten.
While not everyone can do the same things as others, everyone is important. And most people can do something to make this world a nicer place.
With school getting out I have been thinking that children especially should be allowed or given things to do within their abilities.
One activity I have thought of that would be of benefit to many would be taking time to visit local nursing homes, or retirement centers. (Call ahead and get permission first). Take a little time out of your own busy life to let your children get to know older family members or friends who are often forgotten.
Forgotten in the sense that we don't take time to go visit because we are too busy, too busy going about our own lives.
Many of these residents would enjoy getting to spend a little time with your family. They also have many memories that they can share. While often times older people can not remember one day from the next, they have can often remember their youth very well. There is wisdom to be gained from listening to the stories told by someone who has lived many years.
This can be a way of creating good memories for both your family and someone who may feel they have been forgotton. Making someone's last days more enriching and letting them know that the wisdom they have gained through their life is of value.
While this is not something for everyone I think that this would be one activity that could be done by some families that would be helpful. Visiting with older people can be a way for children to learn how to deal with problems in their own lives. An older person has the gift of living through many things over the years. They can see more clearly at an older age that life goes on, even when life is hard.
People change, what we thought we could not live without today, is forgotton tomorrow. An older wiser person can clearly explain this, by telling of the things that were important to them when they were 16 or so. Sometimes it is hard for a teenager to believe that the 95 year old man they may visit once was 16, with hopes and dreams.
Children as everyone need to know that life goes on. That today is the tomorrow we waited for, and tomorrow is not yet here. And each day is a new day, a day to start over, or begin again.
Everyone has good days, and everyone has bad days. But if you just give up and decide life is not worth living, you loose all that you could have had both good and bad. We learn from everything that touches are life. This is something that is helpful to remember when we are going through a particular difficult time.
Taking time to visit our older family and friends may be helpful to some younger people who may be on the verge of just giving up. Then again it may not, but at the very least I do not think it would hurt.
People today need someone to look up to, and they need to see that there have been many people who have lived through many trials. That life is worth living, that your most valuable lifeskills are learned from not giving up when giving up seems to be the only solution.
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