3 Life Lessons You Can Learn From Taking Care Of Elders

What can you do when you are broke, you’ve lost all your hope in landing a decent job and your life is literally falling into pieces?

Most people just take a couple of days and rethink their entire existence, planning their next step; the step that is going to put them back on track. But I know someone who took one of the biggest challenges you could think of: my friend got hired at an elders caring facility.

He’s been working there for less than one year, but when I met him I noticed how much he changed. He is not the same guy, even if he still wears red sneakers and he puts his baseball cap in reverse. He is a changed man. He made me realize that working in healthcare is a rewarding and character-building activity, which leaves a strong mark on anyone who is daring enough to take up this huge responsibility. That elderly care facility turned my friend, who was a mamma’s boy, a spoiled, winning kid, into a real man. He’s not a kid anymore, he’s a man!

From a broke e-cig addict to a responsible adult

My friend, let’s call him A, finished his studies with a major in Art and tried to secure a job, but failed each time. He worked as a dishwasher, he walked dogs, he even worked as a real estate agent’s assistant. But he was kicked out from all these jobs. Without perspectives, he moved back to his small town and started to look for a job. Any job! He found a job in healthcare, at a medical facility, no experience needed.

After the interview and all the check-ups, he landed at an assisted living house, where he is taking care of senior people. Despite the fact that all his other colleagues have a degree in gerontology or at least a degree in healthcare administration, my friend was accepted and he actually enjoys his work.

He makes sure none of the 60 seniors falls while moving around, he gives occasional haircuts, he makes sure everyone is well fed and wash. Then, he takes his time to learn from them, by simply being their companion, which taught him important life lessons.

1.You learn to care more

Elders care more than millennials and younger generations are capable of caring. While working with elders and being around them daily, you simply learn that the small things are important in life. That is what makes one care about his life, other people’s life and the environment.

When you care, you go that extra mile without feeling you’ve done it. You listen, you really listen, when you care, which comes with a huge advantage both in your personal life and your professional life.

2. You learn to value humans and human interaction

Millennials are good at technology, but this has made us more like robots. We text, we send emoticons and we know how to chat over the latest apps, but we have no idea what to do when we are face to face with another human, without a phone.

This lack of human interaction made young generations insensitive to fellow humans. Working with living people who can share loads of stories with you, as well as hugs, is going to make you value humans more than you value your smartphone. You are going to become a real human again, stripped of all the technology that surrounds us daily. This is going to improve your social skills, which will benefit your relationships.

3. Life is a struggle

When you take care of seniors, they will share with you, their own struggles of life. As millennials, we have a lot to endure, from the fact we can’t afford a house to the inability to secure a high-paying job and to raise kids. But when you listen to what older generations had to endure, you realize life is a struggle for everyone.

My friend’s new senior friends had to deal with wars, the threat of nuclear apocalypse and economic depression. Despite all these, they managed to raise kids and have successful careers.

They are the living proof that us, the millennials, are going to thrive, even if some of us now seem to hit the rock bottom. Yes, we are in a huge student debt, which is a new challenge, but our grandparents also had to deal with the atomic bomb, which was a new challenge at the time.

In conclusion, life is a struggle for everyone, so just go out there and fight. You will manage to craft yourself a beautiful life, just like our elders did.

Featured photo credit: Unsplash via hd.unsplash.com

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