Perhaps growing older means losing the ability to believe completely in another person. The more we understand people, the harder it becomes to find a mentor.
Life can be a lonely thing.
I have no one close to me whom I can truly look up to as a mentor—someone whose way of life I would like to follow, someone whose opinion I would instinctively want to seek.
It seems almost impossible to find such a person among politicians, whether in Japan or elsewhere in the world. Business leaders, by definition, operate in pursuit of profit, and inevitably have to deal with both the clean and the murky sides of human affairs. I may respect one aspect of such a person, while finding another difficult to admire.
The same is true of religious figures and scholars. Human beings all have different sides to them, strengths and weaknesses. Someone may shine brilliantly in one respect while being far less admirable in another.
Of course, if a person is exceptionally gifted in some field, we may still regard them as admirable overall.
And yet, even people like that have become surprisingly difficult for me to find.
Perhaps the reason is simply that, after living for so many years, I have come to understand that this is what human beings are.
Within a life of less than a hundred years, someone may shine brightly for a time. But that brilliance lasts only for a moment. Before long, it fades, and our memories of that person are compressed together with countless other memories and buried somewhere deep inside us.
And eventually, that person dies.
No matter how deeply we respect someone or how faithfully we follow them, in the end they will leave us behind.
However remarkable they may have been, they cannot remain someone we can rely upon forever.
At the same time as I realize how many people who came before me have watched over me and helped me through life, I am also becoming increasingly aware that, as the time left to me grows shorter, I will have to find my own way more and more.
Perhaps this is one consequence of growing older.
The more we understand human beings, the harder it becomes to place someone above us and simply follow their lead.
Life really is a rather lonely thing.
Perhaps growing older means realizing that, in the end, no one else can live our life for us.
・・・Vocabulary for Learners
look up to someone
To respect and admire someone very much.
人を尊敬する、敬慕する
mentor
A person who gives advice and guidance based on greater experience.
指導者、助言者、人生の先輩
murky
Not completely clear, honest, or morally simple.
不透明な、清濁の「濁」にあたるような
shine brilliantly
To stand out because of exceptional ability or achievement.
非常に優れて輝く、際立つ
fade
To gradually lose strength, brightness, or importance.
薄れる、色あせる
leave someone behind
To go away while another person remains. Here, it refers especially to death.
人を残して去る、この文脈では「先に亡くなる」
find one’s own way
To decide for oneself how to live or what to do.
自分自身の道を見つける、自分で生き方を決める
#GrowingOlder #LifeAndLoneliness #Mentorship #ReflectionsOnLife #JapanesePathologist
No comments:
Post a Comment