TRUTHS OF A MAN’s LIFE
(Written by Dr. Shirish Raje, Psychologist from Nashik. Posted with thanks to him)
(1) A man becomes old, a woman becomes mature.
(2) Once a man marries off his children and ensures the family’s financial stability, his senior and respected position in the family quietly comes to an end.
(3) Thereafter, he is treated as a burden seen as a cranky, irritable, and unpredictable old man.
(4) The strict decisions he once made for his wife and children are now dissected and criticized; he is found guilty for one reason or another. And if he truly made mistakes may God protect him.
(5) An elderly woman, however, receives sympathy from her children and daughters-in-law because there are still things to be done through her.
(6) At the right time, she smartly moves from the husband’s camp to the children’s camp.
(7) If the husband is older, the wife aligns herself with the daughter-in-law to ensure that the son does not distance himself and continues to care for her.
(8) No matter how great a man’s achievements were in his younger days, none of that glory helps him in old age.
(9) The elderly woman, however continues to enjoy the interest on her past virtues.
(10) Those who own ancestral property or farmland (something the children still desire) fare slightly better. But those who have divided their property among their children to avoid future disputes meet the same sad fate as described above. Therefore, it’s better not to divide property prematurely.
(11) Visit any hospital you can immediately tell whether an old man or an old woman is admitted, just by looking at the eyes of their relatives. If it’s an old man, apart from his daughter, no one’s eyes are moist.
(12) The moral: Once a man grows old, he must learn to live without expecting anything from others. Remember a man remains a student all his life accept that no one truly belongs to anyone in this world. Live a detached, self-reliant, and self-respecting life.
(13) My advice: Don’t dwell on what you’ve done for others. Don’t even talk about it.
(14) Even in ancient scriptures, there’s no example of a woman accepting Vanaprastha (retirement from worldly life) or Sannyasa (renunciation).
(15) These stages of life were prescribed only for men. Understand their importance and you’ll realize how farsighted our ancestors truly were.