The experience of retirees can be the mirror in which young people rarely look at themselves, but which holds universal truths. There is even a study that indicated that older people tend to remember more strongly what they did not do (the “inaction”) than the mistakes they made, and that is why many of the reflections at this stage have to do with the opportunities that were missed.
William Rossy, YouTuber from the Sprouht channel, has spoken with the wisest voices, which are retirees over 100 years old, who explain what their biggest mistakes have been, the moments that most marked their lives and the advice they would give to their younger self.
Rossy, known for his interviews with older people in different parts of the world, manages on this occasion to gather testimonies from those who lived through two wars, irreparable losses and also great joys. The protagonist, a 107-year-old woman, responds when asked about her biggest mistakes: “I could have, would have, should have… it’s over.”, she says, because for her it doesn’t make much sense to dwell on what could have been.
“I think the best life you can have is the one you don’t spend thinking about what you could have done. You just move on,” he sums up.
“Not all of us came home for Christmas.”
Another of those interviewed is a veteran of World War II, who remembers what it was like to say goodbye to his family before leaving for the front. “My mother hugged me and just said, ‘Be careful, Billy.’ We didn’t say goodbye,” he says.
What came next is told in a few words. “Not all of us returned home for Christmas. I was a prisoner for four years. When I returned, I was no longer the same. I learned not to show emotions, to survive without feeling,” explains this retiree.
Now, despite everything that happened, he doesn’t see himself as a hero. “They say we are heroes, but the real heroes are the ones who stayed there,” he says.
Another of the interviewees remembers the day the war ended, and how little he asked for then. “When they said we were going to Japan, I thought I would never come home. But when it was all over and we threw our hats in the air, I knew life went on. I just wanted a beer and peace.”
“My husband died suddenly, and I had to carry on”
As for marriage, a 105-year-old woman tells what hers was like. “I was married for almost 60 years. We fought, we talked, we slept in the same bed and, at the end of the day, we were still together. There is no secret, only patience and affection,” she says.
The opposite happened to another of the interviewees, as her husband asked her for a divorce after 46 years of marriage. “I thought my life was over,” he confesses, although over time he saw it differently. “But a year later I wrote her a letter: ‘Thank you for giving me back my freedom.’ That was when I rediscovered myself. I was no longer just a wife, I was myself.”
The hardest lesson is told by another of the interviewees, who lost a son to suicide. “If I had known then what I know today, perhaps things would have been different. But it is useless to live in the ‘if only’. That’s what life is: mistakes and lessons.”
“Don’t get married so young, and don’t worry so much.”
Now, if they could go back, many are clear about it and would have gotten married later, or at least they would not have been in such a hurry to make certain decisions. One of the women still doesn’t understand why she got married so soon. “I got married at 19. What was the rush?” she asks herself, and for her at that age you think you’ve already seen it all. “At 25 you think you know everything, but you’re just starting to live,” he adds.
The case of a 101-year-old man is different, who regrets not having gone out more. “I should have traveled more, enjoyed more. You always wait for the perfect moment, and it never comes,” he explains.
Still, most say they have no major regrets. This is the case of another retiree, who thinks he has behaved well with the people he has been around: “I treated everyone how I would like to be treated. I have had a good life. The key is not to think only of yourself.”
To finish, William Rossy asks them what they would say to someone who thinks they are already late to everything: “What if you are 25 or 40 years old and you think it is too late to start again?” And there is no doubt here, because everyone tells him the same thing, “It’s never too late.” “It’s never too late,” they repeat.
The 107-year-old woman, who still walks without help and occasionally drinks her martini, tells what she does to stay that way at her age: “Enjoy life while you can. Exercise, talk to people, create something with your hands. I make my sculptures and that keeps me alive. There is no secret, just the desire to move forward.”
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And the video closes with a phrase that goes to those who are watching it: “What you have today, the energy, the beating heart, the opportunities of each day, are the dream of someone who can no longer have it.”