Mentoring Keeps You Young at Heart!

by Patricia Reid-Waugh
(Kingston, Jamaica)

In my book 'Retirement A New Adventure', I encourage fellow retirees to pass on their wisdom through mentoring. I write:

"A mentor is someone who advises younger persons on all aspects of their lives, helping them to grow and benefit from the experience of others so that they do not have to learn the hard way."

Mentoring does not have to involve coughing up loads of money to support a young person. There are many young people who just need our time, our counsel, our encouragement and yes, our friendship.

We can mentor effectively by simply giving these young people experiences that they would not normally have. So, for retirees who are no longer earning, you can mentor with little financial outlay. There are many no cost and low cost activities and experiences happening in your communities that some young persons will appreciate.

Recently, I decided to visit the summer exhibition at the National Gallery of Jamaica. There is a 15 year old youngster I met in June who told me then that his favourite subject in school was Art. He got an excellent mark for Art on his school report. Having decided to go to visit the exhibition at the National Gallery, I saw this as a great opportunity to invite him to come along with me. This would enhance his love for the subject and give him some creative ideas for his own work when he gets back to school.

We had a terrific time hanging out together chatting, laughing and arguing our different points of view on the works we were viewing. For me it was a win/win experience.

Firstly, I didn't have to go alone. Secondly, it was refreshing discussing the various art works and hearing youthful reactions, opinions, perspectives and interpretations from this young man. Thirdly, it gave me so much joy seeing how excited he was as he declared, "I am just dying to go back to school to tell my classmates and teacher about this." A 15 year old boy "dying to go back to school" is a victory of epic proportion!

In my book, I ended the discussion on mentoring with these words, "Of course, mentorship is not for everyone. But for those who feel they have learned many things they wish they had known decades ago, opportunities to share that wisdom with younger people are all around if you are active in your community."

And as a bonus, mentoring a young person keeps you young at heart!

SIGN UP: Retirement Insider