Your Need To Know

Here is another inspirational story with the moral: It’s never too late to be all you can possibly be. Gina

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we did not already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.

I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, ‘Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I’m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?’

I laughed and enthusiastically responded; ‘Of course you may!’ and she gave me a giant squeeze.

‘Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?’ I asked.

She jokingly replied, ‘I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids…’

‘No seriously,’ I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

‘I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!’ she told me.
After class, we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.

We became instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this ‘time machine’ as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester, we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I will never forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards on the floor.

Frustrated and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, ‘I’m sorry I’m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I’ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I know.’

As we laughed she cleared her throat and began, ‘We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing.

There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.

We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it!
There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up.

If you are nineteen years old, lie in bed for one full year, and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old, stay in bed for a year, and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.

Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.

The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets’

She concluded her speech by courageously singing ‘The Rose.’

She challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives. At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago.

One week after graduation, Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

Over two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it’s never too late to be all you can possibly be.

Author Unknown

“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
 Samual Ullman

Technorati Tags:Inspiration,Motivation
 

There was a young surgeon from Wales who was the son of a miner. His father worked long hours at low wages in the coal mines. As a boy, the surgeon had to go to school barefoot because his father could not afford shoes for him. Fruit and meat appeared on the table twice a year at Christmas and Easter. Buttermilk, potatoes and tea were the main staples for this family.

One day the young man said to his father, “Dad, I want to be a surgeon, and I’ll tell you why. A boy I’m going to school with had cataracts. The eye surgeon operated on him and now he sees perfectly. I want to do good like that doctor does.”

He father replied, “Son, I have set aside $8000. that I have saved over twenty five years. I have saved it for your education. I would rather you not touch it until after you have finished your medical schooling. Then you can use it to open up a beautiful office with all the necessary equipment of your profession. In the meantime, the money will be drawing interest and you will have that security. You know that any time you really need it during your medical schooling you can always draw on it. It’s all yours, but I would rather you let it draw interest until you graduate. Then it will be a nice “nest egg” for you.”

The young man was thrilled beyond words. He promised he wouldn’t touch the money until he graduated from medical school.

He worked his way medical school, working in pharmacies at night and during holidays. He also earned money as an instructor in pharmacology and chemistry at his college. His whole idea was to live up to his promise to his father that he wouldn’t touch the money in the bank until he graduated.

Graduation day finally came. His father told him, “Son, I have been digging for coal all my life and gotten nowhere. There is not a penny in the bank and there never was. I wanted you to dig deeply and find the treasures in the gold mine within yourself, which is limitless and inexhaustible.”

“For a moment,” the surgeon said, “I was flabbergasted and dumbfounded. After a few minutes, I got over the shock and both of us burst out laughing. Then I realized what Dad had really wanted to teach me. It was the feeling of wealth engendered by the thought of plenty of money in the bank to back me up if I needed it. It gave me courage, faith, and confidence and made me believe in myself. My belief that I had $8000. in the bank had accomplished the purpose just as well as if it had actually been on deposit in my name.”

Everything this young surgeon had accomplished was a symbol of his inner faith, vision, and conviction. There wasn’t a single penny to back him up as a student, but look at the wonders it brought in his life.

For every person in the world, the secret of success, achievement, and fulfillment lies in the discovery of the miraculous power of their thoughts and feelings. Our young surgeon acted confidently just as if the money was always there!

Gina

This story circulated through e-mails quite a bit last year, but for those of you who may not have read it, I have posted it here.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle; when 24 hours in a day are not enough; remember the mayonnaise jar and 2 cups of coffee.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them in to the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “yes.”

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

“Now” said the professor as the laughter subsided, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things – God, your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions. And if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.”

“The pebbles are the other things in life that matter like your job, your house, and your car.”

“The sand is everything else – the small stuff. If you put the sand in the jar first, there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.”

“Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit your grandparents. Take time to get medical check ups. Take your spouse out to dinner. Play another 18 holes. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the disposal.”

“Take care of the golf balls first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented. The professor smiled and said, “I’m glad you asked.”

“The coffee just shows that no matter how full your life may seem, there is always room for a couple cups of coffee with a friend.”

 Gina