My Two-Cents: The Importance of Mentors
Life sucks and the world is a sad, miserable place. Not always. But most of the time. From my experience, no one actually knows what there’re doing. Most people you know live every day swinging for the fences and making decisions out of left field. There is the occasional enigma that does have their shit together, but generally, they're a dime a dozen. So, what closure can you receive from the fact that no one knows what the hell they’re doing? You're not alone! And even better, talking to older, so-called “wiser” people about your dilemmas can be very therapeutic. Further, these “mentors” are one of the best life hacks I’ve discovered in my 20 years of winging it.
I talk a lotta shit about the downside of technology, but one major perk is the ability it gives us to call up people at virtually any time. Often, when I feel in a rut, I’ll call someone to bitch about my problems. I love to bitch! Regardless of what you’ve been told, bitching about your problems really does help. I always feel better after calling my mom and burdening her with five minutes of listening to me bitch about the most minor inconvenience in my life – God damn you Casey’s for getting rid of the $3 slice of pizza and medium fountain pop deal, you have dampened my Tuesday afternoon. Additionally, when I do have real problems, my mom gives me very reassuring advice. Even just the recognition that she or someone I know probably had a similar issue at some point in their life and they’re still here and crunching the numbers is very comforting. My mom gives me great parental advice, which I often under-appreciate. Not everyone gets that luxury. That’s where mentors can come in.
My grandma is someone I would consider somewhat of a mentor. She’s smart enough to give me valuable advice and wise enough to know I probably won’t always listen. She’s also a pretty cool gal and spent 40+ working for the state in social services and as a counselor in the school district. In her time working both of these jobs, she did some pretty cool shit, one of which was setting up mentor programs at the school she worked at. She’s often expressed to me her philosophy on the importance of mentor relationships. Having someone, not always a parent, to listen, give advice, and just be on your team. Even cooler, she still has mentors and mentees from her program let her know they still keep in touch which one another. Some of us are fortunate to have these relationships in our life without seeking them out – an aunt, older sister, or good friend we can call to bitch about our problems too – and seek some guidance or reassurance in return. However, a big majority of people aren’t. And as I mentioned earlier, life sucks. But it sucks even worse if you don’t have anyone in your corner. So I guess what I’m trying to get around to is if you’re reading this and you have a mentor in your life, thank them! And also, maybe consider returning the favor. Chances are there are lots of cool programs around you that allow you to do this; for me personally, it’s the Teammate's program. My mentee and I meet once a week to chat and play Uno. It’s nothing too serious, and I really look forward to it every week. My job isn’t to condemn, lecture, or reinforce, it’s just to listen and sometimes give advice. And the most important thing is consistency. That’s something I’ve learned from being on the mentee side, and something I’m trying to reciprocate on the mentor side. Life will throw you lots of curveballs. Sometimes life will even just straight-up bean you on the left side. And when that happens, the best thing you can hear from someone is that you’re not alone, and you’re gonna be just fine – just like they were.
