At this juncture, I would like to pose a question to everyone: "Have we grown a year older or have we grown up by a year?"
Readers who have been following my column would know that I love to embellish my "viewpoints" with stories which I have read. This piece is no different! Take the story of an 87-year-old woman, Rose, who was determined to pursue a university education.
She enrolled in a university and - because of her bubbly personality and affable demeanour - quickly became the campus icon, making friends easily wherever she went.
Rose's sense of humour, coupled with her love for dressing up, went down very well with her much-younger peers.
When invited to speak at the annual football banquet, she gave a memorable and inspiring address.
She said: "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 humour every day. You must also 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 19 years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive thing, you will still turn 20.
"If I am 87 years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything, I will still turn 88.
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."
Rose died one week after her graduation, and over 2,000 students turned up at her funeral to pay tribute to the wonderful woman who taught them by example that it is never too late to be all you can possibly be.
Although I never knew Rose personally, reading this inspirational story has certainly stirred up the somewhat-complacent giant in me.
And, being a music man, I can appreciate what Rose meant when she challenged the people around her to live out the lyrics of The Rose, a heartrending ballad made famous by Bette Midler.
The second verse of the song goes: "It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
"It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance. "It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to give.
"And the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live."
This reminds me always to take the bull by its horns and live life with passion - passion fuelled by a determination to find opportunity in change.
May next year signal the start of a new journey for you and me, a journey during which we "grow up" more than we "grow old".
Happy New Year everyone!"
-Tuesday, 28 Dec 2010, my paper, Geoff Tan
When I read this article, it brought to my mind this picture I saw when travelling in Canada.
My caption for this photo on Facebook reads, "I'm growing old, but I'm not too sure if I'm growing up. I think I'm still pretty much a kid."
What struck me the most about this article was the idea of having no regrets; Life is about not having regrets for things you did not do, and not about things you did.
Just yesterday evening, Grandpa exclaimed when he learnt that I'd registered for Class 2B license.
I must admit I was a little taken aback, considering how into bike-riding my family is - my dad, brother, uncles ride bikes!
And then Grandpa said that I wasn't young anymore, he was worried I'd have psychomotor problems with a bike! :|
Anyhow, I am only 23 (going 24), and really, if not now, when?
I have procrastinated the registration for my 2B License since 2008; I finally registered for it on 31st December 2010, when two other teachers went to register for their Class 3A.
I believe I wouldn't regret learning another skill, but I'm sure I would regret if I do not get it. ;)
We only have one life, live it.
The change that you want to see in your life, lies in your hands.
The world can judge, but only we can decide for ourselves what they should see.
Ms Tay never said it would be easy, Ms Tay only said it would happen only if you try.
P.S. I found abovementioned 'The Rose' performed by Bette Midler on YouTube, enjoy! :)
"It's the heart afraid of breaking that never learns to dance.
It's the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance.
It's the one who wont be taken who cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dyin' that never learns to live."
P.S.S. I went through this article in class today, the words in bold are 'vocabulary' words for the students; have hyperlinked them to dictionary.com so that meanings (and pronunciations) could be checked up easily. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment