Monat: Oktober 2011

spective?
Nearly fifty years ago, at the height of space exploration, many astronauts were documented as having profound, transformational experiences as a result of looking at the Earth from a distance. This became a well-known side-effect of space travel and was labeled by journalists at the time as the ‘Lunar Effect’. This is an extreme example of what can happen when you get far enough away from your situation and can see it in the context of the much bigger ‘universe’ of reality. Problems become smaller, priorities become larger and clearer, and the interconnectedness between all aspects of life take on a deeper meaning.

A woman took her son to see Mahatma Gandhi, who asked what she wanted. “I’d like you to get him to stop eating sugar,” she replied. “Bring the boy back in two weeks’ time,” replied Gandhi. Two weeks later the woman returned with her son. Gandhi turned to the boy and said, “Stop eating sugar.” The woman looked surprised and asked, “Why did I have to wait two weeks for you to say that?” “Two weeks ago I was eating sugar,” Gandhi replied.

There were only two real differences between Harvard students and students at much lower-level universities. First, the Harvard students had a very strong self-belief. They really believed in themselves, and when they made a mistake, they simply tried again and learned from the mistake. Second, the Harvard students were willing to ask questions. Sometimes, they asked questions to the teacher; sometimes they asked questions to other students; sometimes they asked questions of the Internet or textbook; and sometimes they just asked questions to themselves. And it’s interesting, when you ask a question, you often get an answer. In Japanese, there is an expression: Kikinu ha issho no haji. In other words, if you don’t ask, you will never know and you will be ashamed all your life. So it’s good to ask questions, isn’t it? And maybe those wonderful students at Harvard were really following Japanese tradition. And if they can follow Japanese tradition, it’s much easier for you, isn’t it … to become a wonderful student, I mean.

An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t already know.
I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round 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’ll 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 and 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 and 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 .When you finish reading this, please send this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they’ll really enjoy it!
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS
OPTIONAL.
We make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.“