Communication between two generations

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

I've always wondered why people love asking other people to give them feedback, or ask questions when the person requesting that is not even ready to hear what the other person has to say...

In this life, it is hard to maintain an open heart. To be able to accept anything people say requires a very brave heart. To be able to consider with adequate justification what other people are telling you or complaining at you requires wisdom and maturity.

Maturity is not measured by your age, nor by your life experiences.

You can aged 100 years old, but still could be considered immature if you think that you are the wisest person in the whole world because you are the oldest.

You can have traveled to all the places in the world, but you wouldn't be mature enough if you wouldn't want to see, hear, feel and reflect the things that you see at the places you visited.

Maturity won't be gained by only experiencing the sweet things in life. You have to also experience the bitterness and the sourness. It's not just beautiful and bright colours, you have to also accept it for the black, white and grey. When you've already accept the world for what it is, then you would understand.

There was once, a bus driver who got annoyed at me because I used the "wrong" name for the road and mosque that I wished to stop at. The name of the road and mosque that I told him was actually the real name and I know this because I lived in that area. But, he got really annoyed at me and said in an annoyed voice that I shouldn't have addressed him 'pakcik' or uncle because he said that actually I am older than him. I told him that I just graduated from university and from what I can see, he was definitely older than I am. With an annoyed voice he shot back that it does not matter, I am still older than him.
At that point, I have an urge to say back to him, "Yes, you are quite right. I am not older than you based on our age, but I am older than you in term of maturity."

But I held my tongue and try to calm myself down to avoid having arguments with him..

At that point, I realise that a lot of people nowadays, think that they are mature because they are older. They think that they ought to be respected because they are older. I am not saying that I don't respect the elders. I do. But some people just take the respect that other people are showing to them for granted, thinking that they ought to be respected all the time regardless of what they do.
Most people don't realise that, respect need to be gained. You cannot ask to be respected. Only eqoistic people will ask to be respected.

Wise and mature people won't ask to be respected. They just will automatically be respected by others due to their wisdom and character.

When two generations gained wisdom and maturity, we would be able to communicate easily. But to have that, two generations need to be able to accept each other, wanting to understand each other, and celebrate each other's differences.

Just like a father and a son; both want the other to accept the other one's point of view, but if we continue asking people to understand us, we would never be able to accept the other person. Not, until we decide to try to understand the other person first. Seek first to understand, than to be understood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRwNEjk8vc4