Recently my wife mentioned that my office carpet smelled of mildew. So, I asked Google how to fix it, and it told me to just mix vinegar and water, spray the carpet down, sprinkle some baking soda on it, and presto, my carpet would be fixed.
My office carpet is white, so at the last minute I thought, “I’ll add some bleach and make it extra potent.”
After a couple of minutes spraying my potion around in my windowless office, I started to feel… off. In about 45 seconds off rocketed from to really not good, to I MUST EXIT THIS ROOM IN THE NEXT FIVE SECONDS OR SOMETHING THAT I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT IS BUT IS VERY BAD WILL HAPPEN.
I burst outside and sat gasping for air, and checked again with Google to figure out what happened. Yes, I had unwittingly made my own personal batch of WW1 mustard gas. Actually. Cleans carpets brilliantly, but kills all the workers within 3 minutes.
Which leads me to my point today. You readers who are older, have something to share with younger people, and that something is wisdom. You’ve got a ton of life experience that you take for granted.
This life experience is desperately needed, and actually craved by the upcoming generation.
But that’s not where it ends. You need them too. They have a lot to teach you (and me).
It’s called mutual mentorship.
Today I went for a walk with a friend who’s more than 20 years younger than me. There are things I know that he doesn’t (my secret chemical warfare recipes for one) and there are lots of things he knows that I don’t. He understands the world of technology, and swims in all the currents and trends that I just observe from the outside. And we help each other. What a wonderful, mutually rewarding relationship!
What a great way to bridge the generations!
So, my challenge for you today is to find a person from a different generation, and start your mutual mentorship program.
You’ll find it really rewarding. And, if they’re into carpet cleaning, you may just save their life as well.
