By Beth Pinyerd
I truly love to celebrate birthdays! To celebrate birthdays is definitely a time of joy for the young as well as the elderly.
For this baby boomer, I personally have put candle #66 on my birthday cake and I truly can say that from the bottom of my heart that I am truly thankful for each day of life. Yes, we baby boomers have had our health challenges, our valleys of disappointments as well as mountains of happiness.
Job challenges in learning new technologies as well as busy schedules define the baby boomer stage. Maintaining a balance of taking care of children, grandchildren, and elderly parents define we Baby Boomers as the “sandwich generation.”
In reaching out to my high school and college baby boomer friends by phone and Facebook, we all seem to have the same concerns around:
- Medical Issues
- When should we retire?
- Money concerns
- Does my life have a purpose?
God has truly given me the best gift of all and that is friends who truly care. God’s calling in my life is my profession and that is serving the young and elderly.
Intergenerational outreach between the young and old is such a natural progression in life. The innocence of the young reaching out to the wisdom of the older generation is such a winning situation. I have gleaned several gifts from my elderly friends that I would like to share to encourage Opelika Observer readers from a baby boomer’s perspective.
The “Greater Generation” have lived through uncertain times and their advice is valuable. - When life throws you a lemon make lemonade! Do not waste your time and life worrying or fretting but trust. We all go through different seasons in our lives. One of my very close friends shared with me to reflect back on “altars in my life” when God has answered prayers in facing health challenges, an uncertain future, or the need for wisdom and strength. Altars are significant times in our lives when we remember God did answer our prayers for our good. When we reflect back on these altars that happen to us during different seasons, it is a stockpile of evidence that does build our trust and increases our faith.
- Have “me” time. Set aside time each day that you can be alone to think, reflect and pray. As baby boomers, we are the sandwich generation, so we are always serving others. One thing that I truly admire about this generation is how they journal and write down their memoirs during times of quiet reflections. These shared memoirs become a blessing to others.
Each of us have gifts and talents. In teaching young children for many years, I always rely and teach young children the Bible verse, Psalm 139:14 – “I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.” This truth truly encourages young children. As we age we need to focus on our God given talents and gifts. As Baby Boomers ask yourself what makes you happy and gives you inner joy! What comes natural to you, share with others. How can we use our talents and gifts to fulfill our lives’ purpose? Using our talents and gifts can rejuvenate our lives and help others as well. - Friends and family are to be cherished. As we grow older, good friendships are a valuable source of love and needed support. In going through our elderly years it is so good to have a friend who loves us unconditionally. True friends give us a guiding, helping hand. Trusted friends will offer valuable advice and suggestions on facing life and help you to discover what is best for our lives.
- As baby boomers, we have lived through different seasons in our lives. A season of going to school, careers, taking care of family or raising a family or taking care of our elderly parents. This seems to be our identity during different seasons. As a baby boomer, we may be facing an empty nest because our children are grown, our elderly parents may have passed on, and too, we may be going through retirement in our jobs.
Baby boomers, even though we may be in a different season in our lives, we still have a purpose to make a difference in our life and for those around us. We have a future. Work diligently at what you love doing and share with others.
Beth Pinyerd, also known as the “Classroom Observer,” has taught young children in the Early Childhood Classroom for 34 years as well as outreaching to the elderly in intergenerational settings. The Classroom Observer is here to serve the community in sharing the wonderful teaching programs in our local public schools, private schools and homeschools. The Classroom Observer welcomes school news, pictures, and events which can be sent by email to donnapinyerd@att.net.