Wisdom of the Ages

When most of us think of grandmothers, an image of an elderly woman who loves to spoil you, share stories and feed you absurd amounts of food comes to mind. Grandmothers also serve up a wealth of insightful and important wisdom that we can all learn from. We compiled a few phrases from grandmothers that apply to everyone, regardless of language, culture or religion.

One piece of advice I receive from my grandmother almost every time I see her is “never forget that the most important gift you have is your health”. I think too often we get caught up in stress or anxiety about work or study or even our social lives, and we forget to take a step back and be thankful for our health. Frankly, without it, life would be much more of a struggle. Most of us forget this as we are so accustomed to it, but all it takes is coming down with the flu for a couple weeks to remind us that our health is an invaluable blessing. Our grandmothers remind us of that.

A common phrase in Arabic that most of us have probably heard at one point or another, “حط اصبعك بعينك بتوجعك متل ما بتوجع غيرك”, which translates literally to “if you put your finger in your own eye, it will hurt the same as if it was in another person’s eye,” but essentially means always be considerate of the feelings of others. An important, though albeit obvious, piece of advice that is sometimes easy to forget.

The phrase “اذا صاحبك عسل لاتلحسه كله” in Arabic translates literally to “If your friend is made of honey, be sure not to lick the whole thing”, but means do not take advantage of your friends, especially if they’re being very kind and allowing you to do so. It’s a good bit of wisdom, as sometimes it can be easy to abuse the kindness of our friends and loved ones.

Has your grandmother given you any interesting advice? Share it with us at Editor@Barakabits.com!