4 Tips on Living a Good Life (advice from a 81-year-old)
By: Barron Smitz
Tags: Life Lessons, Wisdom, Solitude, Millennials, Mindfulness

To remain a student of life is to live.

Photo by Suzy Hazelwood from Pexels

My neighbor Greg, has been on earth for a long time now. He just celebrated his birthday a week ago. Greg is not judgmental, which makes our friendship great. Many young people in the world need seasoned mentors to help navigate them through this crazy life. I’m an old soul, therefore I love conversing with wise human beings.

In high school, my best friend was my aunt Ann. She was 85-years-old, and she always had the best advice when I had tough decisions to make. My aunt helped me get through tough relationships, drama at school, and she always told me when I was wrong about something. She gave me the truth, but a non-threatening way. When her health condition declined, I would always visit the nursing home to see her, read to her, and make her laugh. When she died, it felt like I’d almost lost my mother. But her words and spirit still lives.

God uniquely puts special people in your life to guide you along the way, and that’s what I have in my friend Greg. On his birthday, we got a chance to chat for one whole hour. Greg provided me with some great wisdom to live a good life.

The advice in this article, is by no means, trendy or, will make the headlines. But it’s practical, and a must in life as we progress. These lessons will not cost you much money, however, it does require an open mind.

Make a Life Commitment to Reading Books

He explained that reading books can put you ahead in life. Greg reads a lot of biographies and books on history. He advised that as a writer you never want your content to become dense and repetitive. “Read books in all genres to stay well rounded on views and topics,” said Greg. He was reading The Great Influenza by John M. Barry as we were speaking.

Greg has over three thousand books in his home library. His mind is so filled up with historical content, and he can’t help but tell me story after story. He even has banned and unpublished books very few people in the world have. For Greg’s children’s college graduation, he wrote a book full of wisdom for certain moments in life.

Writers are life educators, we’re constantly researching to find cases that articulate the point we are trying to make.

Preserve a bit for Yourself

“Self-edification is today’s grim reaper. Avoid letting the world know everything about you, instead continue the memory book that’s collecting dust at your grandmother’s house,” says Greg. Very, very sound advice from the old man. Remember when we were kids and we’d flip through the picture book and see our Mom and Dad as babies and teenagers. There was a sense of tradition or historical heritage that was appreciated.

Like most people, my wife and I show our kids their baby pictures on Facebook, which is pretty typical these days. Right now, in my home, I just noticed that we don’t have picture frames of our family hanging on the walls. It’s because we’ve replaced antique possessions with software.

Last year, I went to a Dallas Cowboys game and as I was watching it, I noticed that quite a bit of people video the event rather than watch it live. Sometimes we only do this so that we can show the world that we’re having fun and enjoying life. Take time to enjoy the moment for your own sake. Taking pictures is cool before and after the event. Remember, there’s hardly ever an event that was not uploaded on YouTube the same day.

Remain a Student of Life

“Never stop learning. The moment you do, you die.” The universe puts important people in place to give you pointers on life to continue your journey. This is challenging for all people, especially if you don’t like to be advised. I have that problem sometimes. I can’t stand it when someone says, "This is what you should do”. That irks me. Greg would say, “Consider this…” which allowed me to listen with an open mind.

In the Bible, Paul traveled from city to city to listen and teach believers about Faith. For Paul to teach, he must’ve had a teacher. Paul wrote specific letters to churches to encourage them during trying times. Those lessons are relevant today for perspective. Though materials possessions come and go, human nature stays the same.

Practice Solitude Daily

When you are living a busy life (work, kids, activities), there’s almost no time for solitude. Solitude is vital because it allows us time to think, rationalize situations, generate ideas, and hear the quiet and still voice inside. We simply can’t do any of these things if we’re constantly being distracted by the chaos of the world or skimming Instagram feeds.

In the past, people didn’t have a choice but to endure long periods of solitude. The lack of technology meant they couldn’t listen to a podcast when they took public transit to work or check their notifications when waiting in the grocery line. People had to deal with their own screwed up thoughts and failures, right then and there. For the first time in human history, we are free from all areas of boredom. Let’s take our solitude back and allow our natural state of mind to flow according to nature.