How Mentoring Helps the Elderly

Most of us know how finding a mentor can be beneficial for those who find wise and well-meaning mentors. Simply speaking, a mentor is someone who you connect with in order to learn about or improve on an aspect of yourself or your perception of things. Among other things, what makes a mentor is the fact that they have a lot more experience than you in whatever they may be mentoring you with regard to.

People who have crossed the age of sixty and sixty five make amazing life mentors. Given that we are part of a senior living community and home, one thing we can testify to is many who have crossed the sixty mark have knowledge as well as wisdom. Further they have the patience to impart this, which is what makes any who receive their mentorship fortunate.

The question is; does being a mentor help or benefit us at the age we are in any way?

The Two Way Street

The thing about being a mentor and contributing to the knowledge, wisdom and perception of someone who is younger, less informed or in need of guidance is that it is a two-way street. Where we benefit the other with information and counsel with regard to how to process and apply this information, the other benefits us too.

The Trials of Aging

One of the things many of us will agree to is that with age, after a certain point comes a strange sense of loss or emptiness. It doesn’t matter what we may have achieved or accomplished in our lives. We don’t feel just as relevant as we used to and where to some of us, it really doesn’t matter, to others, that feeling can be jarring.

It’s kind of like the anxiety that one feels immediately after they retire from an active career. The first few years – good lord, I’m sure many reading this can relate!

The point here is that even if in reality we are very respected, significant and important to many, it is hard to make our minds believe otherwise.

Many after the age of sixty contend with this deep sense of loss which may manifest in the form of depression, anxiety and even compulsive behavior!

The Best Thing about Mentoring

Mentoring is not something small. It isn’t something your aging mind can trick you to believe is meaningless. Even expert opinion states that it is something you can do to improve those deep nagging self-esteem conflicts.

When you mentor someone, you’re leaving behind a legacy. What you teach that young person or individual will shape their lives and futures in some form. If things go well, chances are they will always credit you with the same. It’s a beautiful thing really and in a sense, something we as the more experienced population owe those coming after us.

In making such a huge contribution, we can easily regain that sense of fulfilment, relevance and the feeling that what we’re doing really matters.

Tying Things Together

Once again, it is important to understand that even though our lives are always relevant, we don’t always feel that way. Sometimes, we need to get out there and do things. One more job, one more meaningful accomplishment and why not? That’s what being human is about.

Mentoring is a way that we can give back to ourselves while giving back to our community. We get to engage with others, which is extremely important regardless of age, we impart things we know and in return, learn about the world as it may currently be.

In Conclusion

Mentoring is a beautiful process especially if you have someone with decades of living to draw on for information. For the mentor in question, the process is nothing short of reviving! We hope you found this blog useful and are considering playing a role in the life of someone who may need it!

If you’re someone located in Studio City, CA, who wants to come down and check out our independent and assisted living as well as our luxury housing options for seniors, feel free to swing by or get in touch!